Karina Corporation

"Røkke chose to write out a check for 7,000 dollars from the account of Karina Fisheries Inc. at Peoples Bank. Then he neatly put it in an envelope, wrote a pleasant letter, and mailed the supposed payment. 'Supposed' because of course, there was no coverage on the check. And one can imagine how the management of Rapp Hydema reacted to this maneuver. Here they had trusted and supported a young upstart, and the thanks they got was being kept at bay with sweet talk and rubber checks! Suddenly, Røkke had as much goodwill as a porcupine in a nudist camp. He went from being a promising challenger to something of a nightmare for his creditors. For Rapp Hydema was far from alone; Røkke could likely have gathered a small May 17 parade of creditors if he had wished it. It turned out that he had promised and guaranteed in a similar style all around the town. Yet, he continued to issue worthless guarantees to extract even more money from the gullible suppliers. For example, there was no coverage for the personal guarantee Kjell Inge Røkke handwrote on February 24th of the same year to the cable supplier Gourock Division in Ballard. There he knew Doug Turnbull, and the firm supplied fishing equipment for 75,000 dollars which Røkke and his wife Kari personally guaranteed: "We also guarantee that Karina Corporation and Karina Fisheries Inc. will pay the debt to Gourock Division." Signed by Kjell Inge Røkke, both for himself and for the two companies."

"On November 18, 1982, Kjell Inge and Kari Monsen Røkke signed the papers that made them shipowners. The young couple had no money, but they dared to bet everything they owned on the company Karina Corporation. If it went wrong, the bank would get everything. And everything really meant everything, down to furniture and bedding."

"From harm comes wisdom, but not wealth, as the saying goes. And it was not a wealthy Kjell Inge Røkke who tried to rise after the harsh blows he received in the face in the early '80s. The young man had many costly experiences behind him. His company, Karina Corporation, was a black hole with little money and many angry creditors who had believed in him and missed."