DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company and northern Europe's largest integrated shipping and logistics operator. Founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen merged three major Danish steamship companies under the name Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (The United Steamship Company), it is today publicly listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen and headquartered in Copenhagen.
For technologists, the appeal lies in the scale and complexity of the operation. DFDS runs 33 ferry routes carrying trailer freight units across Europe, alongside passenger services that transport 5.25 million people a year. The network is supported by 8 port terminals, 6 integrated rail freight lines and 90 logistics locations in more than 20 countries, reaching from Northern Europe to Turkey and North Africa. Technical work spans integrated shipping and logistics, ferry freight transport, port terminal operations, rail freight, supply chain and logistics network management, and end-to-end transport solutions.
The company's services range from end-to-end transports of full loads to complex solutions for large industrial customers, requiring coordination across maritime, road, rail and terminal assets. Annual revenue is around DKK 30 billion, and the workforce numbers approximately 15,000 full-time employees.
DFDS states its purpose as moving goods and people to enable trade and economic growth across the continent.
