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By Maxwell Orme Johnson
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Chairman of A.P. Møller,
Mr. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller |
| Courtesy Maersk |
One of the true industrial icons of the 20th century
-- he does not give interviews and rarely meets
with journalists -- Ship’s Captain Mærsk
Mc-Kinney Møller, chairman of the A.P. Møller
Group for nearly 40 years, has molded and led his
company to global prominence in the shipping business
and owned a small airline as well. He has an unstinting
fondness for and loyalty to America, his mother’s
native country.
What is surprising upon meeting him is his humble
but granite commanding presence, a quintessential
Viking Dane, a leader of ships and men who has never
suffered fools gladly. That he had chosen the morning
of Sept. 11th for the meeting spoke to his deep
feelings of patriotism and enduring support for
the United States, his close personal ties with
and admiration for the U.S. Marine Corps, and his
abhorrence of a world endangered by the madness
of terrorism.
The A.P. Møller Fleet comprises more than
250 vessels with a total deadweight of about 12,000,000
tons and includes container vessels, tankers, car
carriers, supply ships, special vessels and drilling
rigs plying the seven seas, with offices in more
than 100 countries. It is the largest container
ship fleet and the second-largest shipping company
in the world.
Besides shipping, the A.P. Møller Group
is engaged in exploration for and production of
oil and gas (Maersk Oil and Gas), shipbuilding (Odense
Steel Shipyard), aviation (Maersk Air), and IT services
(Maersk Data). To understand how the group became
the leading industry in Denmark and the global market
leader in shipping, it is necessary to return to
its origins early in the 20th century and a small
tramp steamer called Svendborg.
The history of the A.P. Møller Group is
forever intertwined with the modern history of Denmark.
Even the name of its shipping line, Maersk, originates
in the 16th century. While the A.P. Møller
Group is named after its founder A.P. Møller,
fondly called “Papa” by his son, Mærsk
Mc-Kinney Møller, the venerable chairman
of the group, the Maersk name originates from his
great-grandmother, Kiersten Pedersdatter Mærsk
(1808-1875) and can be traced back to the beginning
of the 16th century.
Today the Maersk name (spelled Mærsk in international
settings) is used as a part of the trading/company
name by the majority of the business units in the
A.P. Møller Group, conveying the special
kinship that ties together its diverse range of
activities.
Arnold Peter Møller was born in Dragør
on Oct. 2, 1876. In 1904, Møller, together
with his father, Captain Peter Mærsk Møller,
established Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg A/S (The
Steamship Company Svendborg) in their hometown of
Svendborg.
Their first act was to purchase a second-hand tramp
steamer of 2,200 tons deadweight, which they named
Svendborg. Today their son and grandson, the young,
nearly nonagenarian, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller,
proudly points out the original flag of the Svendborg,
mounted in an impressive display case outside his
office, telling a visitor that this was where it
all began nearly one hundred years ago, “with
Papa’s one little ship.”
Eight years later, A.P. Møller established
Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 A/S and today, these
two shipowning companies remain the nucleus of the
A.P. Møller Group. On his death in 1965,
his son Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller assumed
the leadership of the A.P. Møller Group.
In the authoritative biography on A.P. Møller,
With Constant Care, Ove Hornby writes:
"When Captain P.M. Møller took command
of his first steamer, the S.S. Laura in 1886, her
black funnel was ringed with a blue band with a
white seven-pointed star on each side.”
The S.S. Laura kept the star until the ship was
sold in 1909 and, when A/S Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg
was founded in 1904, the white seven-pointed star
on a sky-blue background became the funnel emblem
for ships of the new company, which acquired a similar
house flag. The star went along when Dampskibsselskabet
af 1912 A/S was established and thus became permanently
linked to the Maersk fleet.
Perhaps equally important is the Latin motto that
goes with the star: Per Aspera ad Astra, meaning
“through adversity to the stars.” Although
the logo is prominent in the air, in ports throughout
the globe, and on the seven seas on all ships, aircraft
and containers belonging to the group, the most
impressive display hangs among the rows of shields
in Knights Chapel in Denmark’s historic Frederiksborg
Castle. These shields honor men for their sterling
character and significant accomplishments for the
Kingdom of Denmark with membership in the Order
of the Elephant and the Knights of the Grand Cross
of Danneborg. There is a shield bearing a seven-pointed
star on a blue background with Per Aspera ad Astra
inscribed. Only five men outside royalty have been
awarded this distinguished honor: Niels Bohr, Dwight
D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Montgomery, Sir Winston
Churchill, and Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller.
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| From humble beginnings in
1904, Maersk has become one of the largest shipping
companies in the world. The Maersk tanker above
passes by the Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro. |
| Courtesy Maersk |
Maersk Sealand
Maersk Sealand is the crown jewel in the A.P. Møller
Group. Although a wholly owned subsidiary of its
Danish parent, Maersk Sealand is an American company.
In 1973, the A.P. Møller group took delivery
of its first purpose-built container vessel, aptly
named Svendborg Mærsk, and shortly thereafter
began a working relationship with Sealand that in
1999 evolved into Maersk’s acquisition of the
international container business of Sea-Land Service
Inc., approximately 70 container vessels and about
200,000 containers.
Today, Maersk Sealand is one of the largest shipping
companies in the world. According to Knud Pontoppidan,
the group executive vice president, container trade
is growing seven to nine percent per year, with
the largest increases in volume over the next decade
to occur on routes between Asia and the U.S.
Pontoppidan stated that Maersk intends to stay
the world leader and grow with the trade between
offshore manufacturing concerns and customers in
the U.S. Although Aarhus is the principal container
port for international shipping from the West, the
vision of the group is that Copenhagen will become
the container hub for the entire Baltic region by
the end of this decade.
Maersk Sealand offers commercial customers and
the U.S. government an even broader range of international
shipping services, unmatched in the industry from
a single source. Jess Soderberg, partner and chief
executive of A.P. Møller, took over day-to-day
management in 1993. Soderberg reiterated this commitment
in direct Danish style: “When the U.S. wants
ships for its military requirements, Maersk will
provide, period.” This echoed an earlier statement
by the chairman, regarding Maersk’s indelible
commitment to support the U.S. government in times
of both peace and war. He recalled how he ran Maersk
operations while exiled to the U.S. during World
War II and how Maersk has come to be intertwined
with the U.S. Marine Corps during the last two decades:
“When the United States Marine Corps needed
ships ‘yesterday’ [in 1980 following the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan] for afloat prepositioning
of combat equipment for three Marine brigades, it
was Maersk who rose to the challenge. Today we still
have very close bonds with the Marine Corps.”
On August 14, 1990, barely two weeks after the
Iraqis invaded Kuwait, Maersk Maritime Prepositioning
Force (MPF) ships were being unloaded in northern
Saudi Arabia and Marines of the 7th Brigade were
rushing into positions near the Kuwaiti border to
protect the Saudis from an imminent attack by the
Iraqi Republican Guard.
Today Maersk ships bearing combat equipment for
U.S. Marines and U.S. Army forces stand ready for
possible operations in support of UN efforts in
Iraq.
Maersk Oil and Gas
Mærsk Olie og Gas AS was established in 1962
when A.P. Møller was awarded the sole national
concession for exploration and production of oil
and gas in Denmark. Today, Mærsk Olie og Gas
is responsible for an oil production of some 500,000
barrels per day and its sales in gas production
are up to some 1,000 million cubic feet per day.
Maersk Air
The Maersk Air Group is engaged in European and
domestic scheduled airline services and international
charter operations. Established in 1970, today,
the Maersk Air Group comprises four airlines –
Maersk Air and Star Air in Denmark, Maersk Air Ltd.
in the U.K., and Estonian Air in Estonia. With over
40 aircraft with an average age of less than two
years, Maersk Air employs 2,500 staff in Denmark
and abroad.
Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, following
in his Papa’s footsteps, has built the A.P.
Møller Group into a world-class organization
from its humble beginnings in a small tramp steamer
named Svendborg. He has done so with a firm, soft-spoken
approach, honesty, humility and an abiding respect
for the human spirit. As he guides and accompanies
this visitor to the front entrance of the Maersk
global headquarters, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller
makes one thing perfectly clear: he is at heart,
first, last and always, a Ship’s Captain--he
is truly a gentle giant and a Great Dane.
For more information, please see: www.maersk.com
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