Another Shipping Company Shows the Way to Longevity

DENMARK – WORLDWIDE – No business can survive for a century and a half unless it evolves as time passes and today the dry cargo and product tanker group NORDEN celebrates its 150th birthday, a long way from the small Danish steamship owner that started life all those years ago.

Founded in 1871 the company now operates from 11 offices across 6 continents as an asset light business foundation split into short-term operator activities and longer-term asset trading, having developed from that traditional ship-owner model. Jan Rindbo, CEO comments:

“Unlike the shipping company of 1871, our primary value driver today at NORDEN is not ships, but a business powered by people, data and customer relationships, but where we have stayed true to our founder’s legacy is in our quest for innovation and our reliability as a good business partner, attuned to our customers’ needs.”

While NORDEN has survived many highs and lows in the shipping industry over the past century and a half by being able to adapt its business to new realities, the opportunities and challenges facing the company today require different kinds of innovation.

Among these, NORDEN will during 2021 share more on its sustainability efforts both in terms of decarbonisation, as well as how NORDEN prioritises the wellbeing of its employees. In connection with anniversary a new employee initiative ‘Moving Beyond 150’ will be launched today, addressing both physical and mental health of employees.

To further celebrate the occasion NORDEN will be marking its 150-year anniversary with events and stories on past and present transformations throughout 2021 and these will also be featured in ‘The NORDEN Voyage’, a biography in English and Danish (‘NORDEN Rundt’) published by Lindhardt & Ringhof.

Photo: The biography cover and Mads Christian Holm who founded Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN A/S in 1871.