A new award to pay tribute to those who work to create increased diversity in the shipping industry is to find its first winner. Today, the jury meets to find the shipping company that deserves to win the award.

The jury must evaluate the four nominees based on initiatives that have either been significant for the individual company or for the entire industry. It can for example be if the shipping company has:

• created a new initiative in the field of diversity by actively using new knowledge in the field.

• worked actively to promote a diversity mindset among employees, management, and business partners.

Executive Director for employment conditions, recruitment and training, Anne Windfeldt Trolle is representing Danish Shipping in the jury:

“I am looking forward to discussing the four nominees with the other members of the jury and I am happy that we can create an occasion to focus on some of the shipping companies that do something extra for the diversity. The award will hopefully put spotlight on places in the industry where there is a serious and innovative approach in relation to diversity,” says Anne Windfeldt Trolle.

A great many of Danish Shipping’s members work seriously and determinedly with diversity. But the nominated shipping companies for this this year’s Diversity Award are: DFDS, Maersk Tankers, Hafnia and Norden. The winner will be announced in October.

You can read about some of their initiatives here below:

DFDS: The shipping company has set a target of 30 per cent women in the company in 2023. The target has been reached in the board and in several offices and a “diversity reporting” has been introduced as part of the quarterly reports.

Maersk Tankers: The shipping company has introduced a new equality strategy and a continued focus on employing 50 per cent women in new positions. The share of women employed in Maersk Tankers has increased from 30.5 per cent in 2020 to 35 per cent and in 2021, 55 per cent of new recruitments were women.

Hafnia: The shipping company has created “Maritime Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Lab” together with Rightship, Wilhelmsen, Thome Group, Rio Tinto and Anglo American. The partnership is a kind of internal think tank where employees and teams across the companies can contribute with good ideas and initiatives that can be spread to the other companies. In the first year (2020), more than 50 ideas about better diversity were shared between the companies.

Norden: The company has introduced a “parents’ package” to ensure full pension during maternity leave, and in Denmark, 24 weeks of paid leave for both the father, mother, and adoptive parents. Pension payment has among other things been introduced to reduce the gap that often exists between men’s and women’s pensions due to maternity leave during working life.

The members of the jury are:

• Head of Department at SEA HEALTH AND WELFARE, Torsten Mathias Augustsen
• Head of Organizational Performance and Development at Welltec, Anja Rose
• Associate professor at Copenhagen Business School, Dr. Poornima Luthra
• CEO of Halcyon Recruitment and founder of Diversity Study Group, Heidi Heseltine
• Executive Director for employment conditions, recruitment and training at Danish Shipping, Anne Windfeldt Trolle

The winner will be announced in October.