As an industry giant, Maersk has a storied history. It has been developing and changing over the years, let’s take a look at how its legend was born and developed over the years, and how the Maersk family has developed over the years.
Historical Events
A.P. Moller – Maersk’s predecessor Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg was founded in 1904. It was founded by A.P. Møller together with his father Peter Mærsk Møller. In the beginning, they didn’t have enough money, so they had to overcome difficulties and try to get enough money. Finally, they bought a second-hand steamer at the end of the year. A.P. Møller has a very strong entrepreneurial spirit, and he hopes that the company can expand rapidly and become a bigger company. At the same time, he also founded another steamship company. This ensures the independence of his operations and more autonomy. As he wished, the new company grew very fast. Finally, in 2003, the two companies finally merged into one company, A.P. Moller-Maersk.
In 1928, Maersk’s first regular monthly service was launched. Before that, there were unscheduled ships and no regular trade. In 1962, Maersk began to develop other industries, such as oil and gas, after obtaining a concession. There was also a lot of success in these businesses. Mærsk McKinney Møller took over the company following the death of his father in 1965. Two years later, Maersk Supply Service was established and put into operation with the strong support of the company. As the market changes, the needs of the market are also gradually changing. In 1975, Maersk started containerizing the original route and constantly optimized itself in the process of transportation. At the same time, Maersk has gradually opened up many other businesses and has its own offices or subsidiaries in many cities of the world.
In 1993 Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller stepped down as CEO and daily manager of the company. Following the needs of the company’s business, APM Terminals was established as an independent business unit in 2001. Two years later, the formal merger of the company named A. P. Møller – Maersk A/S was completed. In 2007, Nils Smedegaard Andersen became CEO of Maersk. In 2012, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller’s youngest daughter, Ane Mærsk Mc-Kinney Uggla, took her father’s place as chairman of the Foundation. With the development of the times, more and more different types of ships appear on the market, and needs in the market are also various. In 2013, the first Triple-E ultra-large container ship was delivered. This is the largest ship in the world, and it is very environmentally friendly and energy efficient. This is also a development in the ship’s history.
Søren Skou was appointed as Maersk’s new CEO in 2016. On September 22 of that year, Maersk announced that it would separate out its oil and gas-related business to focus on specialized integrated transportation and logistics companies. After that, Maersk made many acquisitions and developed of transportation and logistics business. At the same time, it sold other businesses or opened other independent companies to do other kinds of businesses. In 2019, for example, Maersk Drilling became a separately listed company on Nasdaq Copenhagen. In recent years, Maersk, an industry giant, has also refined its business. Especially in the two years of Covid-19, it is very important for major companies to make rapid changes and give solutions following the uncertainty of the market.
The founding family
Peter Mærsk Møller saw a major change in the shipping industry in the late 1800s from sail to steam. He has four sons. The youngest son, A.P. Møller, worked with his father in the shipping industry. He was also the most interested in the shipping industry among the four sons. Finally, they established the Steamship Company Svendborg, the earliest Maersk company. Later, A.P. Møller began to grow the company, establishing offices around the world. He also gradually develop other industries. His son, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, continued to serve as chairman of the family foundation after his death. Kinney is a leader in the whole global shipping industry. He led the company to continue to grow and to expand the company’s business scale. He also helped the development of many regions in his own way. Ane Mærsk Mc-Kinney Uggla is the youngest daughter of Kinney, who took over the family foundation after her father. She continued to run the family business and also did some of her own business. Her youngest son, Robert Mærsk Uggla, also joined the family business. Since 2004, Robert has held a number of positions at A.P. Moller and played an important role. Even by March 2022, he was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S.
From 1904 to today, Maersk has a long history of more than one hundred years. It has gone through several generations of management and development, and today it is a very powerful industry giant. Every generation has put a lot of effort into the company. Over the course of more than 100 years, it has gone through the process of expanding its business to a multi-sector large company, then changing its business to focus on transportation and logistics, and finally separating out other businesses. In this storied history, Maersk went from a second-hand steamer to an international transportation and logistics giant.
