UPDATE

The world’s largest ship
At the end of August, the world’s largest container vessel was delivered to A.P. Møller – Mærsk shipping company. The vessel, named EMMA MÆRSK after ship owner Mærsk McKinney-Møller’s recently deceased wife, was built at the company’s own shipping yard in Odense, Denmark. The vessel has a capacity of about 11,000 TEU. It is 397 meters long and 56 meters wide. The latest technology has been fully exploited to design and build EMMA MÆRSK. It is probably the world’s most automated vessel where everything is monitored by advanced computer systems to achieve the most rational operations on board. It means for example that despite its size, the ship can be sailed and operated by a crew of just 13 people.

Record-breaking weather
In 2006, spring, summer and late summer in Denmark produced several records for the number of sunshine hours and amount of precipitation. July was the sunniest month since the Danish Meteorological Institute started keeping records. The sun shone for 321 hours, and the month was warm enough to call the climate tropical. In contrast, August was the 3rd wettest month since 1874. An average 141 mm rain fell, double the normal August figure.

Peter Høeg
After a break of more than 10 years, Peter Høegh, one of Denmark’s most internationally known writers, has published a new novel “The Quiet Girl”. In the weeks following publication this summer, the book has been on the bestseller lists despite a mixed reception by reviewers. The book is characterised as a crime novel, but has a number of layers which make it comparable with Peter Høegh’s first great international success “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow”, of which more than 2 million copies have been sold worldwide. “The Quiet Girl” has been sold for publication in 15 countries worldwide.

Record investments by Danish businesses
A new survey by Danske Bank reveals that Danish businesses are investing like never before. This year, an unprecedented DKK 177 bn (USD 30 bn) will be spent on new machinery, equipment and IT. This corresponds to investing DKK 88,000 (USD 14,960) in each of the country’s approx. 2 million private sector workplaces. The respective investment totals for 2004 and 2005 were DKK 138 bn (USD 23.5 bn) and DKK 155 bn (USD 26.4 bn).

According to Peter Birch Sørensen, professor of economics at Copenhagen University, the sizeable increase in investment will allay future risks of the economy becoming overheated: “It exerts a doubly positive effect, since companies will be able to collectively produce more with the same total workforce.”

Wind energy sector among Den-mark’s fastest growing industries
The Danish wind turbine industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in Denmark, according to figures from the Danish Wind Industry Association.

Today 21,000 people are employed in development, production and exports in wind turbine technology in Denmark, compared to 8,500 ten years ago.

Danish wind turbine manufacturers collectively have a 40% share of the global market.

The wind turbine industry also relocates production to low wage areas, bu two out of three companies in the industry still expect to create new jobs in Denmark over the next 12 months.

Denmark’s expertise in wind energy attracts foreign companies to Denmark.

In recent years Siemens has invested in wind turbine production in Brande, Jutland, through its acquisition of Bonus Energy, which at the time was Denmark’s oldest wind turbine manufacturer and the world’s fifth largest.

The Indian producer Suzlon has placed its global head office in Aarhus, and Spain’s Gamesa has set up a development department in Silkeborg.

The Stones roll into Horsens Name them – and Horsens have attracted them. Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Katie Meluah, Madonna and last but not least, The Rolling Stones. Horsens is a relatively quiet, Danish provincial town of around 40,000 inhabitants. But the town also has an unrivalled talent for attracting all the big names in contemporary rock and pop. In August, Madonna started her world tour in Horsens with a concert for an audience of 85,000, and in September it was the turn of The Rolling Stones. They also played to a capacity crowd of 85,000 who had converged on Horsens in the magnificent late summer weather to pay tribute to the now middle-aged rock stars.