The story
Founded by Sten Allan Olsson in 1939.1
The foundations to today’s Stena Sphere were laid on 18 November 1939 when the Sten A. Olsson Metallprodukter trading company was founded. In the following years the company expanded both inside and outside the country’s borders.
Sten Allan Olsson (1916–2013) was the son of the skipper and shipowner Gustav Olsson (1876–1956) from Donsö. In 1946, Sten Allan Olsson bought his first vessel with a loan of SEK 25,000 from Handelsbanken, and the shipping business started on a small scale. At the beginning of the 1960s a ferry service started between Gothenburg and Skagen in northern Denmark.
Over the years freight services using the company’s vessels became a significant part of the business. In 1972 the business was divided into two branches: Stena Line AB and Stena Metall AB. In the same year the Masthugg terminal in Gothenburg was completed. The business continued to expand and at the end of the 1970s major investments were made in offshore and RoRo vessels.
Stena Fastigheter (Property) was founded in 1980. The tanker shipping company Stena Bulk was founded in 1982. Northern Marine Group, a management company for vessels that are not Swedish-flagged, was founded in 1983 and Sten Allan Olsson's son, Dan Sten Olsson took over as CEO. Concordia Maritime was founded and listed on the stock market in 1984. During the 1990s the company expanded, including in offshore drilling.
By founding Stena Adactum at the beginning of the 2000s (decade) the Sphere was expanded to also include long-term investments in outlying business areas. Long Term Equity was founded in 2006 for long-term investments without ownership responsibility. A considerable number of the investments have focused on companies in the energy sector, including oil and offshore but also in alternative energy sources. At the beginning of the 2000s (decade) expansion also continued in offshore/drilling.
The Stena sphere has made a profit every year since 1939 and has grown to include the largest ferry company in the world.
One of the company's ships, the U.S.-flagged Stena Imperative, was attacked by Iran on March 2, 2026, while the ship was in Bahrain.
From Wikipedia’s article on Stena Sphere, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4