Themis history

With the newbuilding S144 THEMIS, a new chapter opened in a century-long history as fishermen.

The fishery can be traced back several hundred years in the Ryberg family, which has Swedish roots and a strong connection to Denmark.

With the new building S144 Themis, the Ryberg family from the island of Rörö northwest of Gothenburg stood before a new exciting chapter in the family’s history as fishermen. The story began more than 400 years ago, when the first known fisherman in the family was born on the neighboring island of Björkö.

Since then, there have been fishermen in the family, generation after generation. In 2018 – several hundred years after the first fisherman in the family was born, the Ryberg/Lorentsson family invested in a brand new fishing vessel, which ushered in a new era in the family’s fishing history. Today, the family operates an efficient and modern fishery for the pelagic species herring and mackerel as well as other protein-rich species.

The family has always been pioneers in the development of fishing. Up until World War II, the family’s vessel Rymo was one of the first on Rörö to fish for herring with floating trawls.

In 1952, the family had the new building Themis delivered. A vessel of 19 meters. The price at the time was SEK 110,000, and it was the last major new building purchased for Rörö in almost 30 years.

The danish connection

Although the Ryberg/Lorentsson family is based in Rörö in Sweden, the family has a strong connection to Denmark.

In 2011, the company Themis Fiskeri A/S was registered in Denmark, but long before this the Ryberg family had relations with Denmark. Not only professionally, but also privately. The family has roots in Denmark.

In the 18th century, Balthazar Christian Grönbeck, a merchant from Helsingør, moved to Rörö. His daughter Mariana Grönbeck married Andreas Ryberg, and from her originates the Ryberg family on Rörö.

The Ryberg family continues to cultivate the Danish connection with many trips between their hometown in Rörö and the 2 Danish “home towns”; Thyborøn and Skagen, which have been the starting point for both family life and business for more than 100 years. For example, both Björn and André Ryberg were baptized in the Swedish Seamen’s Church in Skagen and large parts of the crew have taken training at the Skagen Skippers School.

In addition, Themis Fiskeri A/S has had a long-term collaboration with several Danish companies such as Cosmos Trawl, Thyborøn Skibs- og Motorservice and Nordsøtrawl. Themis Fiskeri A/S lands protein fish at the TripleNine factory in Thyborøn and most of the herring at Scandic Pelagic in Skagen. The relationship with Karstensens Shipyard A/S has also been built up over many years, with many maintenance visits to the yard over time, and most recently the delivery of the newbuild S144 THEMIS.

The future

Themis Fiskeri A/S is still family-run, and in recent years, a new generational change has begun.

With this generational change, we have also welcomed a new co-owner, Sebastian, who is not, however, part of the Ryberg/Lorentsson family, but rather the Themis family. Sebastian has been employed and skippered on board for more than a decade.

The owners now consist of Björn Ryberg, Urban Lorentsson, Anders Ryberg and Sebastian Hansson.