• 13-12-2021

Maersk: no prolonged ‘just' a shipping line?

Maersk may be the owner and operator of the largest cargo vessel fleet in the world; however, it would be a mistake to exclusively think of it as a shipping line, especially with its wide spectrum of logistics operations including air freight transport, truck deliveries, freight forwarding and port terminal operating.
The world’s largest container shipping line and vessel operator until 2021, A.P.

To deliver operational management of international ocean and air transport for the British multinational consumer goods company, Moller Maersk signed an agreement on Thursday 16 December, with Unilever, from 2022 to 2026. Under the four-year term agreement, scheduled to come into effect in January 2022, Maersk will develop and manage the latter in-house software titled “The International Control Tower Solution,” to enhance supply chain visibility, boost efficiency and reduce the company’s carbon footprint across its global sea shipping and air freight operations.

The agreement keeps a new milestone in Maersk’s future-focused strategy to expand its presence across unconventional business verticals, in line with its objective to become a global one-stop shop for logistics solutions. Maersk’s wide spectrum of logistics operations comprises air freight transport on its subsidiary airline, Star Air, in-land truck deliveries, freight forwarding and port terminal operating.

With the COVID-19 global pandemic, shipping lines have reported record profits due to skyrocketing shipping fees and rapidly increasing market demand, and Maersk was no exception. As part of its expansion strategy, the company is allocating significant funds to expand Star Air’s fleet, acquire additional freight forwarding and last-mile deliveolution providers, as well as grow its trucking and cargo vessel fleets. The company no longer considers itself a shipping line, but rather an “end-to-end supply chain and logistics partner,” Maersk Managing Director for the UAE, Oman and Qatar, Christopher Cook told Logistics Middle East, allowing unrestricted access to new market segments and business opportunities.