Maersk: The 3-generation story of one of the world's largest container shipping companies

A.P. The Moller-Maersk Group is a Danish shipping company founded in 1904. Apart from maritime transportation, the Group has investments in oil extraction, banking and port management. In 2017, it separated the strategies and budgets of the institutions belonging to the Energy and Logistics sectors within the group. Maersk Line, which is part of the group, which has 88,000 employees in 130 countries, is the world's largest company in the field of container transportation.

Founding father

Captain Peter Mærsk Møller took part in one of the most important changes in the maritime world; In the process of transitioning from sail to steam power in the late 1800s.

Born on the island of Rømø in 1836, Peter Møller got his middle name Mærsk from his mother, Kirsten Pedersdatter Mærsk, whose family originates from West Slesvig.

Peter Mærsk Møller first sailed in 1850 as a micho and successfully passed the first mate's exam in 1855. After gaining experience both on land and at sea, he started working with Jeppesen, a leading shipowner in Dragør, south of Copenhagen. In addition to captaining Mr. Jeppesen's ships, he married his daughter Anna in 1864 and became his son-in-law. Together they had 10 children.

Captain Peter Mærsk Møller commanded many 'schooners' and 'barcos' owned by his father-in-law. One of them was the barcode VALKYRIEN, which he took command of in 1876. VALKYRIEN sank in stormy weather off the west coast of Scotland on the night of 11 December 1883, en route from Newport/USA to Glasgow. Except for Miço, the Captain and most of the crew were rescued by local fishermen and brought ashore.

Shortly thereafter, Peter Mærsk Møller decided to switch to steamships and, after successfully completing all of his exams as a steamship captain, bought the small steamship LAURA on 30 June 1886.

He then founded Steamship Company Laura in his new family home in Svendborg.

He gradually began to train his sons to take their place in this new adventure. One of his sons became a navigational officer, like his father. His two sons chose engineering. So he formed a small team that would take over the family business when the time came.

A.P. Møller from 1899-1903 in St. While working in St. Petersburg, he was discussing with his father the possibility of starting a new steamship company. After all, Steamship Company Svendborg, or A.P. Moller - Maersk appeared. Peter Mærsk Møller was instrumental in securing the equity capital needed to purchase the company's first ship in 1904 and was closely involved in the development of the company until his death in 1927.

SON:

A.P. Møller (1876-1965) and his father, Captain Peter Mærsk Møller, later A.P. Moller-Maersk founded their firm in 1904. However, A.P. Møller has worked in Denmark, England, Germany and Russia before that.

Initially, the family business mainly dealt with maritime transport. Mr. Møller founded Maersk Line in 1928 and bought the company's first five tankers that same year. He also oversaw the expansion of the company abroad: the expansion, which first started in the USA in 1919, continued with offices established in Japan, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

To expand the company's portfolio. Mr. Møller has also founded companies in the shipbuilding, agriculture and retail sectors. In 1962 he was granted a license to explore and extract underground raw materials in Denmark; This certificate of authorization eventually led to the formation of Maersk Oil.

A.P. Møller is currently A.P. Møller - Established a foundation controlling the majority of the shares in Mærsk A/S, securing his family's permanent ownership of the company he built A.P. When Møller passed away in 1965, his son Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller assumed the post of chairman of the family foundation's board of directors.

HISTORY

1904: Company established

Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg (Svendborg Steamship Company) was founded on April 16, 1904 in the city of Svendborg. Despite initial difficulties, they managed to raise enough capital to purchase a second-hand steamship on October 6, 1904. They named the ship after the city they lived in and the company they owned: SVENDBORG.

1912: A.P. Møller starts another transport company

A.P. Møller wanted to expand the Svendborg Steamship Company much faster than the Board of Directors would allow; therefore, in 1912 when an opportunity arose, he founded another steamboat company (Dampskibsselskabet af 1912) with the aim of gaining himself greater operational independence. Due to favorable conditions in the maritime business during the First World War, the new 1912 shipping company expanded rapidly. Both companies were run in parallel until 2003, when they merged under one name: A.P. Moller - Maersk.

1918: A.P. Møller shipyard

A.P. Møller had long supported the idea of ​​establishing a shipyard and thus combining shipping experience with shipbuilding. In 1918 A.P. Møller purchased the necessary tools to build the Odense Steel Shipyard on the island of Funen. The shipyard became an important supplier for the company, especially after 1980, when the first container ship was delivered. In 2009, it was decided to cease the operations of the shipyard due to market competition.

1919: First office abroad

In 1919 A.P. Møller opened its first overseas office - in New York - under the name ISMOLCO, short for Isbrandtsen-Moller Company.

1928: First route

In 1928, the first regular line service with monthly services started under the brand of Maersk Line. Until that date, it had focused on non-scheduled trade, where ships operated in the spot market and there were no scheduled port calls. The first voyage was from the US port of Baltimore to Asian ports via the Panama Canal and the United States West Coast.

1940: Invasion of Denmark

On April 9, 1940, German forces invaded Denmark. The night before, A.P. Møller and his son, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, sent messages to all ships outside of Danish territory to sail to neutral ports and not follow any other order from Copenhagen. During the war, 36 of the 46 ships were claimed by the warring countries and used in combat; 150 sailors and 25 ships were lost.

1962: Concession in Denmark

In 1962 A.P. Møller and Steamboat Companies Svendborg was granted the privilege to explore and extract raw materials underground in Denmark for a period of 50 years.

1965: A.P. Moller passed away

 A.P. Møller passed away on June 12, 1965 at the age of 88. At this time, the Maersk fleet consisted of 88 ships (1.7 million dwt in total), which corresponds to almost half of the entire Danish merchant fleet.

1972 – First Danish oil

The joint venture Dansk Undergrunds Consortium (DUC) made its first discovery and started production at the Dan site in the summer of 1972.

1975: Container ships

The development of the standard container in the mid-1960s started a revolution in world trade. Maersk was not a pioneer in containerization. However, as the demand from its customers increased, it started to containerize its fleet in 1975.