Lasse Kristoffersen, President and CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, has been awarded the WISTA Norway Leadership Award 2023. This marks the first time the award has been presented to a male industry leader in recognition of his ‘commitment to securing female talents, competency and representation in the Norwegian shipping industry’.

Kristoffersen has been a leading figure in the maritime industry over recent years and a frequent speaker at high-level conferences and seminars. He was the President of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA) from 2018 to 2020 and Vice President of the International Chamber of Shipping from 2019 to 2023. He was formerly President and CEO of Torvald Klaveness for 15 years and before that spent 11 years working for classification society DNV.

“Lasse is a visible and inspiring leader. We are impressed by his commitment to securing female talents and leaders to the Norwegian shipping industry. He has led by example and been vocal about the urgency of ensuring female competency and representation,” said Stine Mundal, President of WISTA Norway.

This is the 17^th time the award has been made and the first time to a male industry leader.

“I must admit that I didn’t see this one coming. It is indeed a great honor, but I emphasize that my contribution hasn’t been more than you should absolutely expect. We have only just begun. This is a continuous work in progress. WISTA is a key player in helping us succeed. At the same time, gender is only one dimension of diversity; we have a long way to go on other dimensions of diversity and inclusion,” Kristoffersen said.

He received the award at WISTA Norway’s 35^th Anniversary Celebration, held on Tuesday 6 June 2023 during Nor-Shipping at the premises of the NSA in Oslo.

The annual award is presented to a person in the Norwegian maritime industry who represents WISTA’s core values of ‘Professional, Dynamic, Open-minded and Dedicated’ to gender equality in the industry. In addition, the recipient must have contributed to the development of the industry through enhancing competencies and/or development of new products or solutions. Candidates are presented to members during WISTA Norway’s Annual General Meeting and the winner is elected through a vote.