Just under 20,000 men and just over 3,000 women. This is the distribution of men and women employed in Danish shipping companies.

That is an uneven distribution that needs to be changed, says Danish Shipping, who has now initiated a charter where the shipping companies can commit to focusing on gender equality.

The first 14 shipping companies sign the charter later today, where Mogens Jensen, Minister for Equal Opportunities, will also speak.

“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. 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,” says Anne H. Steffensen, Danish Shipping’s Director General and CEO.

Management takes responsibility

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.

They must also 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.

“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. But we have a goal as to the number of shipping companies joining the charter. When we enter 2021, 75 percent of the shipping companies, which represent 75 percent of the employees, should have signed, says Anne H. Steffensen.

Facts:

- 14 percent of employees in Danish shipping companies are women.

- 7 percent of employees at sea are women.

- 2 percent of employees at sea are women, if you exclude ferry companies.

- 33 percent of onshore employees are women.