Ulfar Norddahl was born in Iceland in 1948 and his family moved to Denmark two years later.
After finishing school in 1964, he was offered an apprenticeship as a trainee ship manager at Norwegian owner Terkol Rederierne, based in Aarhus and run by Niels Birger Terkildsen. It was the beginning of a colourful career.
In 1966, the final part of his training involved being on board the maiden trip of the 1,120-dwt newbuilding chemical tanker Grete Terkol, from the shipyard in Rendsburg, Germany, to Antwerp, where it was to load its first cargo.
