A. P. M⊘ller Mœrsk Group

A conglomerate involved in a wide range of business-containers and related activities, energy, shipping and retail-Mœrsk is Denmark's largest company, a dominant regional player in the North Sea oil and gas industry and the owner of the world's largest container shipping fleet.

Since its creation in the Danish town of Svendborg in 1904, Mœrsk has developed into a multinational corporation, employing approximately 117,000 people in more than 130 countries. Mœrsk was established as a privately run shipping business when 28-year-old Arnold Peter Moller together with his father, Captain [Page 64]Peter Maersk Moller, bought a secondhand steamer of 2,200 tons dead weight. In 1965 Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, son of Arnold Peter Moller, assumed the leadership of Maersk. In 1993 Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller withdrew from the day-to-day management, and today the group is headed by Nils S. Andersen, who took over as the fourth Group Chief Executive Officer and Partner in 2007.

Shipping accounts for more than half of Maersk's revenues, and its containers are a familiar sight at ports worldwide.

Maersk's container division is called Maersk Line. It is one of the leading shipping companies in the world, with a fleet numbering more than 550 container vessels and more than 1,900,000 containers. Maersk already has twice the overall fleet capacity of its nearest rival. Furthermore, Marsk owns 50 container ports around the world.

Maersk Line keeps expanding the economies of scale in shipping, a key driver of trade globalization. Maersk's container business may play a role in the integration of production processes, not only by moving goods from manufacturers to consumers and coordinating multiple modes of transport, but also by connecting industrial productions that are located in different places. Container shipping and related activities are by far the largest business areas for Maersk, providing 53 percent of the group total revenue in the first half of 2007. Its container-related activities are under the brand names Marsk Line, Marsk Logistics, Safmarine, and APM Terminals.

Marsk's main competitor in the container shipping industry is the Mediterranean Shipping Company (M.S.C.), based in Geneva, Switzerland, and owned by the Italo-Swiss Aponte family. M.S.C. specializes both in the container and in the cruise business (revenue in 2007 equals US$14 billion and US$1 billion, respectively). It was established in 1970, is not listed, and is not as diversified as Maersk. Its organizational chart is light and the consequent rapidity of adapting to market changes is M.S.C.'s main advantage. This fact combined with a competitive price policy has led M.S.C. to achieve a consistent market share as the second largest ocean-carrier in the world.

Tankers, offshore, and other shipping activities are part of the main business in which Marsk operates. It offers solutions for the transport of crude oil, refined products, and gas; drilling with mobile production units; salvage; and towage activities, as well as door-to-door transport, inter-European freight, and passenger transport. All these activities are under the brand names Marsk Tankers, Marsk Supply Service, Marsk Contractors, Svitzer, and Norfolkline. Excluding Svitzer's 600 vessels, they operate more than 260 vessels and rigs. Maersk Oil participates in oil drilling in Denmark, Qatar, United Kingdom, Algeria, and Kazakhstan. In addition, Marsk Oil leads exploration activities in the North Sea, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, South America, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

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