A 127% decline between the third quarter and Q4 marked Maersk’s end-of-year ocean results for 2025: from $567 million in Q3 to the line’s poorest Ebit in years – $153 million.
As a result, the Danish carrier has indicated its intention to cut about 1 000 jobs.
Rationalisation of its staff complement comes at a difficult time for Maersk, which together with its vessel-sharing partner in the Gemini Cooperation, Hapag-Lloyd, has announced a mid-year return strategy to the Suez Canal.
The announcement follows tentative peace that has settled on the Red Sea south of the Egyptian waterway, thanks to negotiations with the Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
Overall, Maersk still delivered strong results, with Ebit recorded at $3.5 billion and Ebitda (Ebit with depreciation and amortisation) at $9.5bn.
“We delivered a strong performance and high value for our customers in a year where supply chains and global trade continued to be reshaped by evolving geopolitics,” CEO Vincent Clerc said
He indicated that, along with its Gemini partner, Maersk was among the most on-time lines in 2025, a claim supported by data from ocean intelligence platforms Xeneta and Sea-Intelligence.
Clerc said Maersk’s profitability could be attributed to cost-cutting measures, and that ongoing streamlining would trim $180m in annual corporate expenses once the planned shedding of about 1 000 jobs had been implemented.
gCaptain reports that “the board also approved a $1.0bn share buyback to be executed over the next 12 months”.
