Denmark Releases Plans for Maritime Growth

The Danish Government has released a plan for maritime growth that aims to position the nation as a global maritime hub by 2025.

The 36 initiatives presented in the Plan for Growth focus on individual challenges as well as general framework conditions. These include initiatives aimed at making Denmark a global frontrunner in autonomous technologies and maritime digitalization as well as creating more work-experience places at sea, increasing the number of applicants admitted to training programs for masters and ship officers, and ensuring the development of an overall maritime marketing strategy.

The government will also develop a standard concept of island ferries. The introduction of a standard ferry is expected to support the Danish position of strength in maritime energy efficiency and climate and environment solutions.

The Danish maritime sector is one of the country’s most important export sectors and a major supplier of jobs. However, the industry is faced with tough competition in the world market; a market undergoing rapid change as a consequence of changes to the global distribution of work, consumer behavior and digital and technological developments.

The plan is based on the results already achieved through the industrial and entrepreneurial agreement from November 2017. This agreement involved an extension of the application of the Danish International Register of Shipping (DIS) scheme to seafarers on board offshore special ships, initial dialogue with the E.U. Commission about a scheme for maritime service engineers and the removal of the registration fee for merchant ships.

Initiatives will be implemented on an ongoing basis towards 2025.