Maersk

A.P. Moller – Maersk, usually called Maersk, is a Danish transport and logistics company that began as a shipping business in 1904 and now operates container shipping, port terminals and supply chain services. It reported 2025 revenue of US$54.0 billion, EBITDA of US$9.5 billion and EBIT of US$3.5 billion. A Danish family foundation structure holds control of the company, and its chief executive is Vincent Clerc.

History of Maersk

The Maersk story begins with Captain Peter Maersk Moller, a sailing-ship captain from Svendborg in Denmark. In 1886 he bought a small steamer named Laura and moved the family business from sail to steam. The ship supported his wife Anna and their ten children, and the daughters helped run the business while he was at sea. His third son, A.P. Moller, born in 1876, worked in shipping and trading houses in England, Germany and Russia before returning to Denmark in 1904 to join the shipowner C.K. Hansen.

His contract let him own and run a few ships privately. In 1904, strongly supported by his father, he set up the Steamship Company Svendborg, the forerunner of today’s company. It had only three ships when he decided to seek faster growth. In 1912 he founded a second firm, the Steamship Company of 1912. He later described buying two old ships built in 1899 for DKK 150,000 each, with a provincial bank lending DKK 275,000 against a mortgage on the ships.

In January 1913 a small staff in rented offices in the old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen managed five vessels. Denmark stayed neutral in the First World War, and the Maersk companies focused on Allied ports and then on trade with the Americas. In 1918 A.P. Moller established the Odense Steel Shipyard, which operated until 2012, and in 1919 he opened the first overseas office, in New York. By then the fleet comprised 17 steamships.

A.P. Moller also served as chair of Danske Bank from 1928 to 1952, taking the bank from public to private ownership. His son Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller became a partner in the family firm in 1940. The decisive change for modern shipping came in the early 1970s. A new group strategy led in 1973 to a decision to containerize the trade between the United States and Asia, in response to a new rival in international shipping, the container. The wider history of that technology is covered in the entry on containerization.

Products and services of Maersk

Maersk reports three main groups of activity. The Ocean segment moves goods on container ships, which are vessels built to carry standardized metal boxes. The Logistics and Services segment covers logistics and related services beyond the ocean leg of a shipment. The Terminals segment operates port terminals where cargo is loaded and unloaded.

The 2025 results show how they differ. Ocean volumes grew 4.9 percent, in line with the market, but profit fell because of lower freight rates tied to global overcapacity. A new east-west network produced average on-time arrivals above 90 percent and cost savings above initial expectations. Terminals had their strongest financial performance to date, with revenue up 20 percent.

Logistics and Services improved profitability for the seventh consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, with year-on-year revenue growth of 1.9 percent. The company says the segment has not yet reached its full potential. In the same quarter Ocean volumes rose 8.0 percent and terminal volumes rose 8.4 percent, driven by activity in the Americas and Europe. Customers who rely on a container ship network increasingly buy end-to-end services, which is why Maersk has invested in this part of the business.

Corporate structure and operations

Maersk is a publicly listed company, but a family foundation structure holds control. A.P. Moller created the A.P. Moller Foundation in 1953 to ensure a family-controlled ownership structure in the spirit of its founder. The foundation deed records his business principles: companies must be well consolidated, must build up activities and have a positive impact on society, and should treat paying dividends as secondary.

Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller died on April 16, 2012, and Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla became chair of the Foundation. In 2013 A.P. Moller Holding was established as the investment arm of the Foundation, and the majority ownership of A.P. Moller – Maersk was transferred to it from the Foundation. These details come from the holding company’s own history pages.

For 2025 the board proposed a dividend of DKK 480 per share, equal to about US$1.1 billion, and approved a share buy-back program of up to DKK 6.3 billion, about US$1.0 billion, over 12 months. Maersk also announced organizational changes to cut corporate overhead by US$180 million a year. Around 1,000 positions, about 15 percent of corporate roles, were expected to be phased out after consultation processes.

Impact of Maersk

Maersk is one of the companies that built modern container trade, which carries manufactured goods between continents. The 1973 decision to containerize, taken within a long family tradition of investing in fleets and yards, shows how a Danish shipowner adapted early to a technology that changed ports worldwide. Its operations are also central to supply chain management, since delays at sea affect factories and retailers far away.

The family, the Foundation and the holding company have also invested in Denmark more broadly. The holding company bought 15 percent of Danske Bank’s share capital in 2015, as part of Maersk’s divestment of the same stake, and added 2.02 percent to reach a total ownership of 20 percent. The company is based in Copenhagen.

Challenges and outlook

The 2025 report is open about difficult conditions. Maersk said the year was shaped by changing geopolitics, and profitability in Ocean fell because freight rates came under pressure from overcapacity. Chief executive Vincent Clerc said volumes grew and asset utilization was very high.

For 2026 Maersk expects global container market volumes to grow between 2 and 4 percent. It said its guidance reflects expected industry overcapacity, possible scenarios involving a gradual reopening of Red Sea shipping routes, and a change in vessel depreciation timelines from January 1, 2026. These forecasts come from the company and may change. Dated figures here are for 2025, and readers should check the latest annual report for current information.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue