Per Storesletten bought his first ship together with Ola Linga in 1961. In 1965 they decided to go separate ways and Per purchased MV Ratt, at the time employed in coaster trade. MV Ratt was sold in 1967, repalaced by MV Reina shortly after. MV Reina entered into a timecharter for Hunsfoss Fabrikker in Vennesla, Norway. After having used derrick cranes for loading and discharging operations, it was decided that the derrick were going to be replaced by a Hiab timber gantry crane. The gantry crane was able to operate alongship while the crane moved sideways on the gantry. This enabled the ship to reduce loading and discharging time by half. MV Reina was sold in 1969, and MV Tone was purchased the same year.
In 1978 the company decided to leave timecharts and rather seek employment in the tramp market, mainly involved with timber. In 1981 the company bought MV Pioner and for the first time fitted the ship with an excavator placed on a gantry. This combination proved very effective also for bulk cargoes. MV Pioner started to trade in the winter of 1982 and marked the beginning of a cooperation with Rolf Wagle AS in Oslo. From 1986 until 1994 another four ships were purchased together with Rolf Wagle AS. In April 2001 the company bought MV Ingvild with the idea of rebuilding her for timber trade, but together with the ship followed a container charter as feeder vessel for Maersk Sea Land between Hamburg and Bremerhaven. For several years the company had been playing with the idea of fitting a vessel with a set of excavators. This idea was realized when MV Helene was purchased in July 2001, the largest vessel in the fleet to date. Storesletten Rederi AS was founded as a Limited company in April 2001.