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Maersk Line or Maersk SeaLand is a Danish international
container shipping Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...
company and the largest operating subsidiary of the
Maersk Group (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...
, a Danish business conglomerate. Founded in 1928, it is the world's largest container shipping company by both fleet size and cargo capacity, offering regular services to 374 ports in 116 countries. In 2019, it employed 83,625 people where 18,398 of which are vessel crew and the other 65,227 are processing and operations personnel in offices and ports. Maersk Line operates over 708 vessels and has a total capacity of about 4.1 million TEU.


History

At the beginning of the 1920s, A.P. Moller considered possibilities of going into liner trade business. The tramp trade, where vessels sailed from port to port depending on the demand, was expected to lose ground to liners in time. On 12 July 1928, the vessel ''Leise Mærsk'' left
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on its first voyage from the American East Coast via the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
to the Far East and back. The cargo consisted of Ford car parts and other general cargo. This heralded the start of Maersk's shipping services. Maersk Line began to grow in 1946 after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
by transporting goods between America and Europe before expanding services in 1950. On 26 April 1956, ocean-borne container transport was introduced with the shipment of a SeaLand container aboard the SS Ideal X from Port Newark, New Jersey, to
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
. In 1967, British carrier P&O was part of the first European initiative, a pooling of liner services from four companies, into the new company Overseas Containers Limited (OCL). Both Sea-land and P&O would later be taken over by Maersk Line as it expanded operations between 1999 and 2005. In 1999, Maersk entered into an agreement on acquisition of Safmarine Container Lines (SCL) and its related liner activities from South African Marine Corporation Limited (Safmarine). At the time of acquisition, Safmarine Container Lines operated approximately 50 liner vessels and a fleet of about 80,000 containers. It covered a total of ten trades and fully complemented Maersk Line's existing network. Safmarine Container Lines joined the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group as an independent unit with its own liner activities. On 10 December 1999, the A.P. Moller Group acquired the international container business of SeaLand Service Inc. The business was integrated with the A.P. Moller Group companies and as part of the integration, Maersk Line changed its name to Maersk Sealand. The acquisition comprised 70 vessels, almost 200,000 containers as well as terminals, offices and agencies around the world. In May 2005 Maersk announced plans to purchase P&O Nedlloyd for 2.3 billion
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s. At the time of the acquisition, P&O Nedlloyd had 6% of the global industry market share, and Maersk-Sealand had 12%. The combined company would be about 18% of world market share. Maersk completed the buyout of the company on 13 August 2005, Royal P&O Nedlloyd shares terminated trading on 5 September. In February 2006, the new combined entity adopted the name Maersk Line''.'' At the time the company was folded into A.P. Moller, it owned and chartered a fleet of over 160 vessels. Its container fleet, consisting of owned and leased vessels, had a capacity of . Royal P&O Nedlloyd N.V. had 13,000 employees in 146 countries. By the end of 2006, Maersk global market share had fallen from 18.2% to 16.8%, at the same time, the next two largest carriers increased their market share, MSC went from 8.6% to 9.5% and
CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
from 5.6% to 6.5%. In January 2008, Maersk Line announced drastic reorganisational measures. In November 2015, after lower than expected results, Maersk Line announced its decision to lay off 4000 employees by 2017. The group said it would cut its annual administration costs by $250 million over the next two years and would cancel 35 scheduled voyages in the fourth quarter of 2015 on top of four regularly scheduled sailings it canceled earlier in the year. As of October 2015, Maersk Line along with its subsidiaries such as Seago, MCC, Safmarine and SeaLand, control a combined 18% share of the total container shipping market. Since 1 December 2017, Hamburg Süd has been part of the company. In March 2021, Maersk announced that is aiming to have the world's first carbon neutral liner vessel launched in 2023, seven years ahead of its original schedule. In August of that year, the company purchased eight
methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is ...
powered shipping vessels for $1.4 billion from Hyundai Heavy Industries.


2M Alliance: Maersk/MSC

In 2015, Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) launched the 2M Alliance, a vessel-sharing agreement on the Asia-Europe, trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades. The arrangement, which includes a series of slot exchanges and slot purchases on east–west routes, also involves Maersk Line and MSC taking over a number of charters and operations of vessels chartered to HMM. The 2M Alliance include 185 vessels with an estimated capacity of 2.1 million TEU, deployed on 21 strings.


Sustainability

In 2011–12, Maersk Line cooperated with the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
on testing between 7 and 100%
algae biofuel Algae fuel, algal biofuel, or algal oil is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Also, algae fuels are an alternative to commonly known biofuel sources, such as corn and sugarcane. When made fr ...
on ''Maersk Kalmar''.Geiver, Luke. ''BioRefining Magazine'', 21 November 2011. Accessed: 13 December 2011. From 2007 to 2014, and mainly due to slow steaming, Maersk Line reduced its CO2 emissions by 40% or 11 million tonnes, about the same reduction as the rest of
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. Maersk set a goal in December 2018 to be carbon neutral by 2050. In 2017, the company's ships emitted 35.5 million tonnes of CO2e, and it hopes to eliminate that by using biofuels to power its fleet. In 2022, Maersk ordered 12 dual-fuel container ships from Hyundai by 2025, capable of sailing on both fossil bunker fuel and
methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is ...
.


Services

Maersk Line is best known for its vast coverage across the globe. Other than its main trade lanes of Asia-Europe and Trans-Atlantic trades, Maersk Line also offers extensive coverage between South America and Europe as well as to Africa. The company also pioneered the innovative concept of Daily Maersk in 2011 which provided a premium guaranteed service between supply ports of China and European base ports. Despite support from the trade, Maersk Line was forced to cut down services due to oversupply. Recent restructuring of its products have included upgrades to their Asia to Australia, India to West Africa, and China to America routes. Other than those main trade routes, Maersk Line also operates many continental trade lines. It operates in its Intra-Asia route through MCC Transport, its European route through Seago Lines, and recently re-launched the famous SeaLand Service brand for its American trade lanes.


Fleet

As of July 2011, the Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 700 vessels (with Hamburg Süd and Safmarine combined) and a multitude of containers corresponding to more than 3.8 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) In 2006, the E-class vessel '' Emma Maersk'', was delivered to Maersk Line from Odense Steel Shipyard. It was by far, the largest container ship in the world at the time. Seven other sister ships have since been built, and in 2011, Maersk ordered 20 even larger container ships from Daewoo, the Triple E class, each with a capacity of 18,000 containers. The first of these Triple E Class ships was delivered on June 14, 2013, and was christened with the name ''Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller'' after the son of the founder of the Maersk Line. The following ship classes are part of the Maersk Line fleet:


Accidents and incidents


''Marit Maersk''

This 3,330-ton, 314-foot freighter was built in 1938 at Fredrikstad, Norway. She was commissioned as a naval transport for the
Royal Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...
through the Hellenic Maritime Commission in London on 27 November 1940. Used as a support ship for the armored cruiser ''Giorgios Averoff'' in 1942-44, ''Marit Maersk'' was returned to her owners on 14 November 1945. In 1954 she was sold to Greek owners and renamed ''Belgium''.


''Maersk Dubai''

In March and May 1996, three stowaways were murdered on when they were forced off the ship by the captain upon discovery. A fourth stowaway was hidden by some members of the crew and survived.


''Maersk Alabama''

On 8 April 2009, the
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
''Maersk Alabama'' was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean at a distance of 240
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...
s (440 km; 280 mi) southeast of
Eyl Eyl ( it, Eil) is an ancient port town in the northeastern Nugal region of Somalia in the autonomous Puntland region, also serving as the capital of the Eyl District. Eyl, also called Illig, was the capital of the Dervishes from 1905 onwards, unt ...
,
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
. The siege ended after a rescue effort by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
on 12 April.


''Emma Maersk''

On 1 February 2013, the container ship '' Emma Maersk'' suffered a damaged
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Or ...
thruster and took on so much water in the Suez Canal that she became unmaneuverable.
Tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...
, anchors and the wind took her to
Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
to offload 13,500 containers, drain her and be investigated by divers. She had not been in danger of sinking. On 15 February 2013, the Maersk Line confirmed that she was about to leave Port Said under tow to a yard for further assessment and repair. On 25 February she reached the yard of
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,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, where she was scheduled to stay for four months. The flooded engine was disassembled, repaired and assembled, and in August 2013, she was in service again after a DKK 250 million (roughly US$44.5m) repair.


''Maersk Honam''

On 6 March 2018 a major fire broke out in the No.3 forward cargo hold of '' Maersk Honam'' while the vessel was in the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...
about 900 nautical miles (1,700 km; 1,000 mi) southeast of
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, Oman, en route from Singapore to Suez. It took more than 3 days to get the fire under control and the ship continued to burn for several more weeks. The ship was salvaged and the damaged parts of the vessel were rebuilt. The ship was renamed ''Maersk Halifax'' before entering into service again.


''Maersk Roubaix''

On 21 December 2021, the container ship ''Maersk Roubaix'' suffered from engine issues and became adrift in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
370 kilometres from
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, while it was en route to the port of Algeciras in Spain. A
tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
was dispatched to assist.


''Mumbai Maersk''

On on 2 February 2022, container ship ''Mumbai Maersk'' run aground near the
Port of Bremerhaven The Ports of Bremen, Bremen Ports or Bremish Ports, in German "Bremische Häfen" consist of the commercial ports in Bremen and Bremerhaven. They are managed by ''bremenports GmbH & Co. KG'', a company of private status in public property. In 201 ...
in
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. A first attempt to tow the container ship into deeper water two multi-purpose vessels and five tugboats failed. On 4 February, the ship was refloated with the help of eight tugboats. A vessel assessment was done when she arrived at the
Port of Bremerhaven The Ports of Bremen, Bremen Ports or Bremish Ports, in German "Bremische Häfen" consist of the commercial ports in Bremen and Bremerhaven. They are managed by ''bremenports GmbH & Co. KG'', a company of private status in public property. In 201 ...
.


See also

* A.P. Moller – Maersk Group * List of largest container ships


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links

*
Container Tracking
{{Authority control Shipping companies of Denmark Container shipping companies Danish companies established in 1928 Transport companies established in 1928