Denmark has Launched New Initiative for Gender Equality in Shipping Industry

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Denmark has launched a new initiative focusing to increase the share of women in Danish shipping companies.

On 23^rd Jan 2020, the first fourteen shipping companies have signed a charter that obliges them to actively focus on gender equality.

Danish Shipping, a trade and employer organization for more than 90 ship-owners and offshore companies which has initiated the charter said, the distribution of workers employed in Danish shipping companies is just under 20,000 men versus just over 3,000 women.

Danish Shipping’s Director General and CEO Anne H. Steffensen said, “We have a major challenge in recruiting labour to the Blue Denmark. Right now, we are simply missing out on half the talent pool unless we can attract more women.”

She added, “We are trying to address this and will make an effort to get more women on board together with the shipping companies. I am pleased with the great support for the initiative and for the fact that the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Mogens Jensen is leading the way today.”

Specifically, the new charter obliges the shipping companies among other things to devise a strategy or plan to increase the proportion of women in the company and describe and put forward initiatives to support it. The companies are also required to develop and set targets for the proportion of women in the company and appoint a member of top management to be responsible for the action.

Danish Shipping’s CEO explained that the shipping companies themselves choose how they will organise the action. They run very different businesses and their starting points are different. Therefore, we will not try to push them to reach one specific goal.

She further added that they have a goal as to the number of shipping companies joining the charter. When they enter 2021, 75 percent of the shipping companies, which represent 75 percent of the employees, should have signed.

From last year, Gender equality and women in shipping have been at the forefront supported by IMO with the World Maritime University (WMU), was raising awareness of the importance of gender equality with the “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community” theme.