Lasting Memories

Bengt Ibsen Henriksen
Aug. 30, 1937-Jan. 11, 2026
Woodside, California

Bengt Henriksen, 88, passed away peacefully on Sunday January 11, 2026. Bengt is survived by his loving and caring wife Kirsten, 3 children, Charlotte, Sanne, and Martin, and 6 grandchildren. Bengt was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1937 to Helge Ibsen Henriksen and Anna Linea Karlsson. He grew up with his younger sister Anita in the port town of Kolding.

Bengt joined AP Moller/Maersk Line Copenhagen in August 1956, and dispatched to Indonesia. He returned to Denmark to complete his 16-month military service in the Royal Guard. After, Maersk reassigned him back to Indonesia. While in Jakarta he won the Indonesian Open Golf Championship. He then transferred to Japan, and at the same time, was appointed Danish National Golf team Captain for the World Championships. In 1965 Bengt was promoted to GM at Maersk Denmark, where he designed the current Maersk logo with approval from owner Maersk McKinney Moller.

One day in 1965, Bengt met Kirsten out on the golf course and fell in love. On April 8th, 1967, Bengt and Kirsten married at a quintessential church in Søllerød Denmark, with the reception held at the Royal Danish Yacht Club.

Bengt was promoted to VP, while graduating PMD of Harvard Business School. At this time, shipping was mostly bulk cargo, and so Bengt helped to develop full container service for Maersk. He then moved to San Francisco as GM for North America. In 1979, after a 23-year career at Maersk, Bengt left when he was asked to transfer to Japan. He became VP at American President Lines. He left APL and founded Woodside Consulting Group. WCG started a shipping line, Seawinds, with Nike as a minority shareholder. Later, Bengt founded Quality Logistics Inc to serve Pepsico Foods. He secured additional contracts with Adidas and Hyundai, becoming the dominant logistics provider for US fireworks industry.

The Golfer’s Prayer: May I Live Long Enough To Shoot My Age. On October 18, 2018, at the age of 81, Bengt played one of his favorite golf courses, Kawana, just outside Tokyo Japan. He shot an 80, fulfilling a golfers dream of shooting their age.