Maritime master's degrees in Denmark: Blue MBA, DTU, Aarhus and SDU compared

Denmark comes up constantly in conversations about moving ashore, and for good reason. Maersk is there, the shipping cluster is dense, and several programmes are taught in English. What follows is what each route actually requires, what it costs, and which ones are not designed for someone at your career stage.

Copenhagen Business School, the Blue MBA

If you are an officer with real sea time looking for the one Danish programme built around your background, this is it. The Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics, known across the industry as the Blue MBA, covers commercial strategy, technology, finance, maritime law, supply chain management and leadership in a single curriculum.

Tuition is DKK 350,000, roughly EUR 47,000, paid across four instalments. That figure is confirmed on the CBS programme page itself.

The format matters as much as the content. It is part time and modular, built in blocks so you keep working while you study. You do not give up your current role or relocate permanently to attend.

Admission weighs industry experience, not just your transcript. Industry sources put the informal minimum at around five years of relevant work, and your years as a watchkeeping or senior officer count toward that. The programme is explicitly aimed at mid to senior maritime professionals: shipowners, operators, logistics providers, marine surveyors, class society staff and maritime lawyers.

DTU, Nordic Master in Maritime Engineering

A technical engineering master's from the Technical University of Denmark, run within the Nordic Five Tech alliance, so you study across two of five leading Nordic technical universities: DTU, Aalto in Finland, KTH or Chalmers in Sweden, or NTNU in Norway. The focus is design, construction and operation of ships and offshore structures, covering hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, propulsion and structural analysis.

Read this part before anything else. The programme requires a relevant technical bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, naval architecture or maritime technology. A deck or engine officer's certificate of competency does not automatically qualify you. If your only academic background is your nautical or marine certification, DTU would need to assess your sea service individually as ECTS equivalent before you could be considered. That is not guaranteed, and it is worth an email to DTU admissions before you invest any time in an application.

Tuition is EUR 7,500 per semester for non-EU and non-EEA students, so EUR 30,000 across the two year programme.

Aarhus University, Operations and Supply Chain Analytics

The official name today is MSc in Economics and Business Administration, Operations and Supply Chain Analytics. If you have seen it called Logistics and Supply Chain Management elsewhere, that is the older name for effectively the same area.

Be clear about what this is. It is a strong general logistics and supply chain analytics programme covering sourcing, operations planning, distribution, forecasting and analytics for any industry. It is not built around shipping. If your goal is a shipping industry credential, this belongs alongside the Blue MBA in your research, not instead of it.

Tuition is EUR 13,000 a year for non-EU and non-EEA students, EUR 26,000 across two years, confirmed on Aarhus's own 2026 to 2027 fee schedule. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens study free.

Entry generally requires a bachelor's in business administration or an equivalent field, basic quantitative and IT skills, and documented English proficiency, typically IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 90. If your first degree is not in business or economics, check with Aarhus whether your background qualifies before applying.

University of Southern Denmark, Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Run at SDU's Kolding or Odense campus, this sits in the same category as the Aarhus option: solid general logistics and supply chain training covering inventory and production planning, ERP systems, strategic supply chain issues and management accounting. Again, not a shipping specific degree.

One naming trap worth knowing. SDU also runs a completely separate programme called Maritime Archaeology. Despite the shared word, that is underwater excavation and shipwreck history, nothing to do with a shipping career. If you are searching by keyword, make sure you land on Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

On fees, I can only give you a careful answer. SDU's published listing prices other programmes in the same Economics and Business Administration family consistently at EUR 15,000 a year for non-EU and non-EEA students, which is a strong indicator, but this specific programme's own line item could not be independently located. Treat EUR 15,000 a year as an estimate and confirm with SDU at [email protected] before you budget around it. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens study free.

SIMAC and MARTEC: well regarded, and not for you

You will come across two well known Danish maritime institutions in your research. Both are respected. Neither is built for someone at your stage, and applying without understanding that can cost you an application cycle.

SIMAC in Svendborg runs Master Mariner, Ship's Officer and related programmes, mainly in Danish, and requires an educational contract with an approved Danish shipping company before you can enrol. It is a cadet entry pathway for people starting a maritime career, not a lateral entry route for a working officer.

MARTEC in Frederikshavn offers Marine Engineering, Ship Mechanic and Ship's Assistant programmes plus STCW short courses. Like SIMAC, the degree level programmes are Danish taught and entry level in structure.

If you already hold a Certificate of Competency and years of sea service, these two are very unlikely to be your next step. They exist to train new cadets, not to give experienced officers a management level credential. Save the application effort for CBS, Aarhus or SDU.

Side by side

Before you apply anywhere

• •Match the programme to the goal first. For a shipping specific management credential, CBS is the clearest fit. For a broader logistics career, Aarhus or SDU are reasonable additions, as long as you do not mistake them for shipping degrees.
• •Confirm every fee directly with the institution. Several figures above are marked as estimates for a reason.
• •Check current intake status, particularly for DTU.
• •Arrange certified English translations of your transcripts well before any deadline. Most Danish institutions require them alongside the originals.
• •Ask each institution directly whether your sea service and CoC count toward admission or experience minimums. Do not assume from a general programme description.