Maersk


A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, usually known simply as Maersk, is a Danish shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller.
Maersk's business activities include port operation, supply chain management, warehousing and air freight. The company is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with subsidiaries and offices across 130 countries and over 100,000 employees worldwide in 2024.
It is a publicly traded family business, as the company is controlled by the namesake Møller family through holding companies. The company's 2024 annual revenue was US$55.5 billion.

History

was founded in Svendborg in April 1904 by captain Peter Mærsk Møller and his son Arnold Peter Møller. A. P. Møller had four children, all by his first wife Chastine Estelle Roberta Mc-Kinney. Their second child was Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, who became a partner in 1939 and head of the firm upon his father's death. In 1993, he was succeeded as CEO by Jess Søderberg. He continued as chairman until December 2003, when he was 90, and Michael Pram Rasmussen took over. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was, until his death, one of the "managing owners" of the company and was chairman of Odense Steel Shipyard until 2 May 2006.
A.P. Moller - Maersk announced its strategic choice to separate its oil and gas-related operations from the conglomerate structure and to concentrate only on container logistics in 2016. The majority shareholding in Maersk Tankers was sold to A.P. Moller Holding in 2017. Maersk Oil was sold to TOTAL S.A. in 2018, and Maersk Drilling became a separately listed company in April 2019.
In 2017, the company was one of the main victims of the NotPetya ransom malware attack, which severely disrupted its operation for several months.
In 2021, the company bought 8 carbon-neutral ships for £1bn.
In August 2021, Maersk joined the BEC Low-Carbon Charter.
In September 2023, Maersk unveiled Laura Mærsk, which uses methanol as a fuel. Laura Mærsk is a feeder vessel of 2,100 TEU capacity in service on the Baltic Sea. In June 2023, Maersk also announced an order for six additional mid-sized container vessels of 9,000 TEU capacity.
In November 2023, Maersk signed an agreement with Chinese developer Goldwind. The agreement looks to secure annual volumes of 500KT of fuels including bio-methanol and e-methanol produced utilising wind energy at a new production facility in Hinggan League, Northeast China, around 1000km northeast of Beijing. The first volumes are expected to arrive in 2026.

Maersk Logo

The Maersk logo is a white, seven-pointed star on a pale blue background. The logo dates back to 1886 when it was used on Captain P. M. Møller's first steamer, SS Laura The story relates to an episode where Captain Møller's wife, Anna, had accompanied him on a sea voyage and fallen seriously ill. The deeply devout Captain Møller prayed for his wife's recovery, and she did recover.
In a letter dated 6 October 1886, he wrote to her: "The little star on the funnel is a reminder of the evening I prayed for you so dejectedly and anxiously, asking for the sign that I might see a star in the grey, overcast sky, a reminder that the Lord hears our prayers."
When The Steamship Company Svendborg was founded in 1904, the seven-pointed star on the pale blue background became its funnel emblem and the company's house flag symbol. When The Steamship Company of 1912 was established, the seven-pointed star was also chosen as their logo.
The white seven-pointed star has been synonymous with Maersk throughout the years, but the logo has undergone some minor changes. The last changes date back to the early 1970s when Maersk enlisted the Danish designer and architect Acton Bjørn to help with a more modern design, which is still used today.

Transport and logistics

Maersk

The largest operating unit in A. P. Moller–Maersk by revenue and staff is Maersk Line. In 2013, the company described itself as the world's largest overseas cargo carrier and operated over 600 vessels with 3.8 million twenty-foot equivalent unit container capacity. As of January 2021, as the largest container fleet, it held 17% of the global TEU.
In 2006, the largest container ship in the world to that date, the vessel, was delivered to Maersk Line from Odense Steel Shipyard. Since then, seven other sister ships have been built, and on 21 February 2011 Maersk ordered ten even larger container ships from Daewoo, the, each with a capacity of 18,000 containers. The first was delivered in 2013. There was an option for 10–20 more, and in June 2011, Maersk placed a follow-on order for a second batch of ten sister ships, but cancelled its option for a third batch of ten.
As of February 2010, Maersk had an order book for new ships totaling 857000TEU ; that backlog is larger than the existing fleet of the fourth-largest line, Evergreen Line.
Maersk Line cooperated with the United States Navy on testing 7–100% algae biofuel on the Maersk Kalmar in December 2011.
In January 2012, Søren Skou took over as CEO of Maersk Line from Eivind Kolding. Later that year, the company ceased its business in Iran in order to prevent potential damage to the company's business with Western countries, particularly the US, due to the sanctions regime led by those countries.
On 15 March 2022, Robert M. Uggla was appointed Chair of the Board at A.P. Moller – Maersk, succeeding Jim Hagemann Snabe. The appointment marks a generational change in the company. Robert M. Uggla represents the founding family and remains as CEO of A.P. Moller Holding.
On 12 December 2022, Vincent Clerc was appointed CEO of Maersk effective 1 January 2023.

APM Terminals

A. P. Moller–Maersk's independent APM Terminals business unit with its separate headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, operates a Global Port, Terminal and Inland Services Network with interests in 57 ports and container terminals in 36 countries on five continents, as well as 155 Inland Services operations in 48 countries.
Port and Terminal Operations include:
Maersk Container Industry A/S: Container manufacturing with factories in China and headquarters in Denmark.
Container Inland Services: Includes depots, equipment repair, trucking, container sales and related activity.

Svitzer

Svitzer was founded as a salvage client in 1833 before entering the towing business in 1870. Svitzer became majority owned by Maersk in 1979. Svitzer has continued to grow, including through purchasing the tugboat operations of Adsteam, and it now has a fleet of over 400 tugs, line handlers and other vessels. The company provides harbour and terminal towage services in over 100 ports and 20 oil and gas terminals across the globe. In January 2022, Svitzer operated a fleet of 110 vessels in seven ports and 11 terminals across 12 countries in Svitzer operates in the Africa, Middle East & Asia regions.
In February 2024, Maersk's Board of Directors demerged APMM's Svitzer's towage and marine services operations. APMM transferred shares of Svitzer A/S and its subsidiaries, along with related assets and liabilities, to a newly created entity named Svitzer Group A/S. The shares of Svitzer Group were subsequently listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S.
The distribution of Svitzer Group shares to APMM shareholders was agreed at an exceptional general meeting. As a result, APMM's shareholders received shares in Svitzer Group in addition to their existing APMM holdings. Trading of Svitzer Group shares on Nasdaq Copenhagen began on 30 April 2024.
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Damco

Damco was the combined brand of the Maersk Group's logistics activities, previously known as Maersk Logistics and Damco. As of 2008, Damco had 10,800 employees in offices in more than 93 countries. and was involved in supply chain management and freight forwarding all over the world. In September 2019, Maersk announced that they would dissolve the Damco brand and integrate their remaining activities after initially merging Maersk Line and Damco at the beginning of 2019, when the freight forwarding business of Damco stayed separate. The dissolving of the Damco brand was completed by the end of 2020.

Business trends

In the 2024 financial year, Maersk generated revenue of US$55.5 billion. During the same financial year, 108,160 employees worked for the group.
YearRevenue
in million US$		Net income
in million US$		Total assets
in million US$		Employees
201530,76979162,408
201627,64661,118
201731,18963,227
201839,2572,98562,690
201938,89055,39980,000
202039,7402,96056,11780,000
202161,78718,17072,27195,000
202281,52929,70393,680110,000
202351,0653,95482,578100,000
202455,4826,09587,697108,160