DFDS Wins Danish Shipping’s DEI-Award 2025

To the sound of standing ovations, champagne, and flowers, DFDS was presented with this year’s DEI-Award at Danish Shipping’s annual event held in connection with Copenhagen Pride.

“It means the world to us. This is something we do as a team. Winning means we are making a difference – both for our colleagues and for the industry at large. Hopefully, some of the things we do can inspire others and be carried forward,” says Sofie Lindegaard, Director, Head of Group Sustainability at DFDS, who helped receive the award. 

DFDS was nominated for the 2025 DEI-Award in recognition of its strategic and bold efforts to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion. The jury particularly highlights DFDS’s strong leadership commitment, where DEI goals are integrated into both KPIs and bonus schemes, as well as the broad anchoring of initiatives in core processes such as recruitment, pay, and leadership development. 
The talent programme Waves of Talent has already shown measurable results – the proportion of female officers has risen from 4.4% to 10% in less than two years, and DFDS has set a new target of 20% by 2030. 

The company is also praised for its transparency regarding gender pay gaps and for including transgender people in social media campaigns. The jury describes DFDS’s approach as both inspiring, transparent, and culturally transformative – with the potential to influence the entire industry. 

“It has been a great pleasure to read the nominations for this year’s DEI-Award. It is extremely positive that Danish shipping companies are making a strong effort to address both gender balance and pay gaps between men and women. Both are important steps on the road to greater diversity and inclusion. It is wonderful to see the many initiatives being implemented to ensure a good and inclusive working environment for the thousands of employees sailing under the Danish flag,” says Anne H. Steffensen, CEO of Danish Shipping. 

In addition to DFDS, the other nominees were Anne Mondrup, Senior Project Manager in Marine People & Culture at A.P. Moller – Maersk, for her role in the Maersk Marine Cadet Culture Program, and the shipping company Svitzer for its convincing work to promote diversity and inclusion – particularly onboard vessels.