Who Are We ?

The Danish Maritime University is a consortium of Higher Education institutions in the maritime sciences established and managed jointly by the Department of Maritime Research and Innovation (MRI) at the University of Southern Denmark and SIMAC - Svendborg International Maritime Academy, where the secretariat is presently located.

The vision of The Danish Maritime University is to be the primary Danish platform for a joint international cooperation at higher education level in the maritime world of education, research and innovation.

The mission of The Danish Maritime University is to facilitate an international cooperation between maritime education and research institutions vested in different ministries. Undergraduate - bachelor level - maritime education is under the auspices of the Ministry of Economics and Commerce. Graduate and post graduate education is vested in the Ministry of Science. Other potential future partners in Denmark will be under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.

Where Are We ?

The Danish Maritime University is similar to what, in some countries, is known as a regional university consortium with entities in different geographic locations, but together they include all the areas of education and research that is found in a comprehensive single campus university. Presently, the Danish Maritime University has two campuses, in Esbjerg and in Svendborg, and the vision is in the future to involve maritime education and research institutions in the Copenhagen area.

In Esbjerg – the Department for Maritime Research and Innovation (MRI) of The Uni-

versity of Southern Denmark is situated, which is the third largest university in Denmark with approx. 22,000 students and 7,000 employees. It has 5 faculties: Engineering, Health Sciences, Science, Humanities, and Social Sciences. At MRI, a post-graduate degree as well as a Master in Transport and Maritime Management is offered. The Department is sponsored by the Danish Parliament to conduct research and education to support the Danish Maritime Industry in the areas of maritime economics, human resources and innovation management, and maritime transport and logistics. To support this we are increasing the number of PhD students to 6 by the beginning of the year 2009. MRI will host the annual conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists in 2009, and it plays a significant role in the Northern Maritime University network which focuses on developing a common pool of graduate and post graduate courses around the North Sea Region.

In Svendborg – SIMAC (Svendborg International Maritime Academy) is situated. SIMAC is the biggest maritime education and training institution in Denmark and has three undergraduate courses. A Bachelor of Technology Management and Marine Engineering, a Bachelor of Maritime Transport and Ship Management - Single Purpose, and a Bachelor of Maritime Transport and Ship Management- Dual Purpose. SIMAC also offers three post-graduate courses - one as a Chief Marine Engineer; one as a Master Mariner, and finally one as a Ship Manager (Chief Marine Engineer and Master Mariner (dual purpose)). SIMAC cooperates with MRI and other higher educational institutions and the maritime industry in being the link between research and the industry.

SIMAC currently has 800 students enrolled of which 100 are at any one time doing sea practice. SIMAC has a total staff of 100 persons of which 60 are associate or assistant associate professors.

Denmark is an island nation with 406 islands of which 78 are inhabited. So the sea is never far away. Denmark has 7,314 km of coastline plus Greenland’s 39,000 km. Denmark has a population of 5.4 mill with a workforce of approx. 2.8 mill. 80 percent of the women are active in the workforce. The Danish currency is the Krone which is closely linked to the Euro. The Danish economy is basically sound with a very innovative business climate. Since 1982, Denmark has pursued a consistent, stability-oriented, macro-economic policy, which among other things has resulted in Denmark today being the EU nation with the largest budget surplus of approx. 3.5% of GDP. In addition, unemployment is below 3%. Denmark also has one of the best-developed infrastructures in the world, a very high general level of education and a very competent workforce.

The Danish industry structure is characterised by many small and medium-sized companies – like most other European countries.

Danish shipowners own 3 per cent of the world tonnage and 7 percent of the world tonnage is controlled by Danish shipowners. 10 percent of the world trade is carried on Danish operated ships; 30 percent of all Chinese exports is handled by Danish operated ships, and 20 percent of Danish foreign currency earnings comes from shipping.

The Blue Denmark - as the broad definition of the Danish maritime cluster calls itself – has an ambition to remain Europe’s Leading Seafaring Nation. So shipping always has been and always will be important to Denmark.