GOT GROUP

Our roots go back to 1948, when Toralf Westermoen founded a shipbuilding company in Mandal. This marked the beginning of a proud era of Norwegian vessel building. Over the years, countless wood, steel and now aluminium vessels were built here, with the same commitment to quality and experienced craftsmanship.
 

From the 1950s through the late 1970s, our shipyards played an important role in defense vessel production. A total of 59 wood and steel vessels were constructed. We became known for building MTBs (Motor Torpedo Boats), minesweepers, and high-speed transport vessels for the Swedish Navy, as well as MTBs for the Royal Norwegian Navy, including two vessels to the German Navy, fourteen to the US Navy, and six to the Greek Navy.
 

Through the 1980s and 1990s, we became part of Norway's oil and gas era, shifting much of our focus toward vessels built for the offshore oil and gas industry.

Since the 2000s, our main activity has centred on high-speed vessels and ferries. Ferries have been a steady part of our story throughout our history and remain so today, with our most recent contract signed in 2026. Drawing on the experience gained from our MTB years, the transition to high-speed vessels for a range of coastal operations came naturally. Among these were seven high-speed SAR (search and rescue) vessels delivered to The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue through the 1990s and 2000s. The most recent of these was Gjert Wilhelmsen II (2026). We have also delivered both ferries and high-speed vessels abroad, to countries including Greece, Iran, Austria, China, Turkey and Sweden.

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In 2017, Båtservice AS was acquired by GOT, becoming what is known today as GOT Marine. Some of the people working at the yard have been here since the 1990s, a living link to the craftsmanship that has defined us from the very beginning.

The foundations were laid by Einar Øgrey in 1953, when he moved into a set of temporary barracks at Andøya and gradually built up a mechanical workshop that would grow to become one of the largest in Southern Norway. The site itself sits within a maritime hub whose industrial traditions on Bredalsholmen reach back as far as the 1870s.

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The yard developed steadily in the decades that followed. The dry dock still in use today was completed in its first version in 1974, and in the 1980s the large workshop hall was relocated here from the renowned Götaverftet shipyard in Sweden.

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Over the years the facility passed through the hands of several owners, among them Kristiansand Industrier, Oil Industry Services, Kristiansand Mekaniske Verksted, Westamarin and Promeco Maritime / Aker Maritime. Since 2000, the yard facility has been owned by Andøya Industripark AS, which holds it to this day.

A new chapter began in 2012, when OneCo established itself on the site and created the department OneCo Maritime, which took over MacGregor's crane production in the workshop hall at the yard. In 2014, the company Safe Yards was founded to carry out ship service, and it took over the dry dock in 2016. In 2019, OneCo brought Safe Yards into the group, and the two operations were merged into a single subsidiary under the name OneCo Safe Yards.

In 2025, this subsidiary entered its current chapter when it was acquired by GOT, and is known today as GOT Safe Yards. Several of the workers and managers here have been part of the journey since the very beginning in 2014, carrying that experience and continuity forward to this day.

The story began in the year 2000, when Jostein Hauge, a man from Telemark, founded Vinje Industri in Kristiansand.
 

The company grew alongside Norway's oil adventure, steadily building the expertise, experience and strong reputation that would define its place in the offshore and maritime industry.
 

Then came the oil crisis of 2016. It was then that a few forward-thinking people at Vinje Industri recognised that a future on land might also sustain a business that had, by that point, grown into a mid-sized enterprise.

The path from offshore to land was not a straight one, but what soon became clear was that the knowledge and experience built up offshore held just as much value on land.

Today Vinje Industri stands on two solid legs. The offshore division remains as strong as ever, while recent years have brought considerable growth on land, establishing the company as a trusted name within land-based industry, and data centres in particular.

In 2023, Vinje Industri merged with the subsidiary GOT Services, and the GOT group became the majority owner.