Maersk spells out 'integrated carrier' ambitions

The Maersk Group is set
to become an integrated
carrier, combining its liner,
terminal and forwarding
units into a maritime
equivalent of the likes of
FedEx and UPS.
This closer cooperation
between
Maersk
Line, APM
Terminals
and Damco
was a
headline
of the
group’s pre-
Christmas
address
from CEO,
Søren Skou.
He also
pointed out in an earlier
statement in September
that the Transport &
Logistics Division would
operate on an on-line basis.
The group, said Skou,
would be “investing
massively” in the digital
and technology side of the
business.
“We intend to lead the
industry when it comes
to digitising container
shipping,” he added.
“Everyone has a website
but the reality is that the
industry is quite analogue
in the way it transacts
business. We get 55%
of all bookings through
maerskline.
com and
generate more
than US$10
billion in
revenue, and
we see the
opportunity
to sell
different
services in the
future.”
Such an
concept in
the maritime industry
immediately prompted
FTW to raise a number of
queries to Maersk Line in
SA, with a primary one of
these being whether this
one-stop-shop concept
would become available in
SA.
We also questioned
whether the group
would develop a landside
collection/delivery system
like the integrated air
carriers; in which ports/
countries were all three
of the liner, terminal, and
forwarding units present;
in ports/countries where all
three were not
available how
these missing
functions
would be
supplied;
and when
the ‘single
umbrella
division’ was due to
start operating,
and whether
it would
effectively
replace the currently
autonomous management
of the three separate
business units.
But Matt Conroy, SA
trade and marketing
manager at Maersk Line in
Cape Town, told us that it
was still too early to answer
such specific questions.
“It’s still very much a
vision of the company in
the future,” he told FTW,
“with our CEO, in his
pre-Christmas preview,
talking about an ‘integrated
transport and logistics
company’ as the way
forward. The meat can only
be added to this conceptual
bone later.”
However,
he was able
to tell us that
it was most
definitely going
to be a truly
global platform.
And, where
the company
was short of
a specific
business unit/
function it could
substitute a partnership
basis and “operate with the
service providers it already
deals with”. Or, conversely,
the Maersk Group could
develop its own operation.
“Extensive research has
obviously been conducted,”
Conroy added, “but the
detailed results will only be
available over time.”
INSERT & CAPTION
We intend to lead
the industry when it
comes to digitising
container shipping.
– Søren Skou