The family on the mother’s side had always counted seamen, and thus the interest in ships started early in PH’s life.

His mother being a widow, PH was sent to school at The Royal Orphanage in Copenhagen (Det Kongelige Vajsenhus), and shortly after his graduation, PH was apprenticed to a merchant dealing with all kinds of goods. Later he joined the Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen, where he learned much about the many-sided shipping industry.

However, the desire to become independent was always present, and in order to raise sufficient funds, PH had various jobs in trading companies dealing in plastic raw materials, chemicals, feed stuffs etc.

In 1962 PH had finally saved enough capital to order his first ship, the m.s. MERCANTIC, with Denmark's oldest steel shipyard, "H. C. Christensens Stålskibsværft" in Marstal.

While PH’s first ship was being built, he succeeded in establishing an independent agency business dealing primarily in chemicals, drugs, and plastic raw materials.

In 1966 PH’s two main interests met when he established his own shipping organization under the name of MERCANDIA, where the main activity during the first years was agency business.

Over the next 20 years, the shipping side of the business expanded rapidly. PH had made a profitable agreement with the Danish shipyard "Frederikshavn Værft A/S", also known as "Danyard", where the ships were built in series of 7 - 10 at a time, which reduced costs considerably. MERCANDIA was one of the first Danish shipowners to have a considerable number of RO-RO ships designed and built.

By the mid-eighties, PH had had 84 ocean-going motor ships built in Frederikshavn over a 20-year period plus 53 new buildings at other Danish shipyards. This great activity is estimated to have kept 4-5,000 men in jobs.

As PH had built up the shipping business MERCANDIA himself, he also wanted to be the one to wind it up by selling it ship by ship. Today MERCANDIA's and Per Henriksen's activities are land-based and mainly focused on worldwide investments.

In 1986 PH was made Knight of the Dannebrog, and he/MERCANDIA have received many other distinctions. Please follow the link to see some examples. Furthermore, PH has been invited to become a board member by many companies, but due to his age and other interests he never accepted these invitations.

Further to shipping and agency business, PH/MERCANDIA have been involved in manufacturing such as