Danish Shipping, the trade and employers’ organisation for Denmark’s shipping industry, has elected for the first time in the organisations’ history a woman to lead the board. Maersk executive Caroline Pontoppidan has been elected as the new chairwoman of the board at Danish Shipping at the organisation’s annual general meeting.
Pontoppidan, which succeeds Torben Carlsen of DFDS, who has held the position since 2023, will now take the chair at the head of the board.
Caroline Pontoppidan has served as vice chair of Danish Shipping for the past three years and is, in her day-to-day role, executive vice president, chief legal officer and head of corporate affairs at A.P. Møller – Maersk.
She was a lawyer and later partner at the law firm Kromann Reumert (1993–2013) and holds a law degree from the University of Copenhagen (1990) and Duke University School of Law, USA.
Pontoppidan takes over the role from Torben Carlsen of DFDS with immediate effect. The position of vice chair of Danish Shipping will be taken over by Jan Rindbo of D/S Norden A/S (vice chair).
“Proper framework conditions for Danish shipping companies are a prerequisite for maintaining ships under the Danish flag. In an intensely competitive industry, it is absolutely crucial that, as shipping companies, we have an organisation behind us that understands our reality right down to the engine room and can translate this knowledge into political frameworks that keep us among the global leaders in shipping,” said newly appointed chairwoman of Danish Shipping, Pontoppidan.
The board of Danish Shipping consists of seven members from different shipping companies.
Anne H. Steffensen, chief executive officer of Danish Shipping, welcomed the new chairwoman, stating: “Caroline has been a prominent and dedicated member of the Board of Danish Shipping in recent years, and I am confident she is exactly the right person to set the course ahead. She has many years of experience in shipping and, better than most, understands the reality in which Danish shipping companies operate. I very much look forward to working with her.”
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to outgoing chairman Torben Carlsen for his tremendous efforts in securing strong framework conditions for Danish shipping. Torben has contributed great insight and experience in every respect and has also left a strong mark on our European work. And his good humour has made even rough seas easier to navigate. I wish him all the very best going forward,” Steffensen added.
