WP leader: Jeppe Nevers (Department of Culture and Language).
WP 1 is a collection of projects that explore the Danish maritime sector from a business-historical perspective. The maritime sector is a cornerstone of the Danish economy. Particular attention is given to the offshore cluster, but the research also addresses other aspects of the maritime sector, including the development of the maritime education system and, more broadly, the role of the state in the formation of competitive industrial clusters.
The History of the Danish Offshore Adventure, 1990’s – TodayPhD student: Anne Horsted Møller, Department of Culture and Language (March 2023 - ) (Leave August 15 to November 15, 2024)
A key role in support functions in the development of the Danish offshore wind sector. This PhD dissertation examines how Danish companies developed into some of the world’s leading players in the green offshore sector, i.e., offshore wind farms. This PhD dissertation will focus on the political level from a national perspective, thereby enabling a comprehensive and in-depth account to be written.
Project objective: How did Denmark come to have some of the world’s leading companies with expertise in green offshore energy?
Shipping in Politics: The Political Regulation of the Danish Shipping Industry, ca. 1975-2020
PhD student, Jesper Lund Jørstian, Department of Culture and Language, (March 2023 - )
Shipping occupies a rather unique position in the contemporary history of Danish industrial politics. With the enactment of policies such as the Danish International Ship Register (DIS) in 1988, which allowed for tax-free labour on larger merchant ships, and the tonnage tax law in 2002, which replaced the regular corporate tax law, Danish shipping companies today navigate within a more liberal domestic policy framework than many other industries do.
In the business history literature, it is widely recognized that this trend towards deregulation was important for the commercial success of Danish shipping because it increased the international competitiveness of the companies. But how did the policies actually come about? And what broader implications did their implementation have for the practices of Danish maritime politics in the period?
This project investigates how the Danish shipping policy framework was developed. It covers the political processes which led to the enactment of the above-mentioned policies, specifically, and deals more broadly with other topics, such as the emergence of the concept of ‘The Blue Denmark’ and environmental regulation. Analytically, the project studies how different actors – private as well as public – participated in the policy debates and negotiations and takes into account the influence of broader historical contexts, societal discourses and political agendas in the period.
Maritime Education between State and Sea
Postdoc Nils Valdersdorf Jensen, Department of Culture and Language and Svendborg Museum (March 2023 - )
This research project examines the history and role of the maritime education system in Denmark’s position of strength in the maritime sector. Through three articles, the project focuses on different levels of the education system – navigation schools, maritime colleges, and marine engineer training colleges. All three articles are based on a microhistorical approach, whereby we can shed light on the entire field by focusing on a single institution. Svendborg is fortunate to have institutions in all categories and thus serves as a recurring location throughout the project. The first phase of the project in 2023 was spent defining the scope of the three articles, planning the project work and writing the first article.
Article 1: Visions of a Maritime Future – Svendborg School of Navigation 1852–2023 (2023)
Article 2: Maritime Education Programmes During the Transition from Sail to Steam (2024)
Article 3: The Dual Training Programme – Navigation Schools Caught Between the State and Shipping Companies (2025)
A Cluster in Transition: From Oil & Gas to ‘Renewables’
Postdoc Søren Byskov, Department of Culture and Language and Sydvestjyske Museer (March 2023 - )
The project examines the development of the offshore cluster in South-West Jutland since the turn of the millennium. The cluster’s maritime expertise has expanded from servicing oil and gas extraction to what is commonly referred to as ‘green offshore’, i.e., the logistics, installation, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind farms. The aim, in conjunction with Anne Horsted Møller’s PhD project, is to adopt a multi-faceted approach to the green offshore sector. This project is empirical and regionally focused on the Port of Esbjerg and South-West Jutland, whilst the PhD project takes a political approach to the field from a national perspective.
The offshore cluster in South-West Jutland has previously been studied by business economists, but this project seeks to expand upon and refine the insights gained to date and to delve deeper into the cluster’s recent historical development through a qualitative study. Through extensive use of interviews and a review of written material from companies, public authorities, and researchers, the project will provide insight into companies’ approaches to challenges and opportunities within the green offshore sector, as well as an understanding of the motives and framework conditions within which the stakeholders have operated. Until October 2023, the project has focused on building up background knowledge and gathering literature, sources, and an overview.
Since the 1980s, the offshore industry’s maritime competence cluster has been part of ‘Blue Denmark’. The two projects on the development of the green offshore sector will thus contribute new insights into maritime history within a rapidly evolving industry, whilst also linking to the history of energy and industry, as well as the history of industrial policy. The projects will thus make an important contribution to linking recent Danish maritime history with the wider history of business.
The research findings of this project are planned to be published in two articles: firstly, an article that broadly examines the transformation of the South-West Jutland offshore cluster and the emergence of green offshore energy in South-West Jutland, and secondly, an article which, through a more actor-centred analysis, examines a specific case, either in the form of a key company at the heart of the cluster (e.g., Semco Maritime) or another key stakeholder (e.g., the Port of Esbjerg, which has been a municipally-run port since 2000).