Nils S. Anderson, A.P. Moller – Maersk CEO

COPENHAGEN (Dow Jones)–Nils Smedegaard Andersen, the chief executive of Danish industrial conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S(MAERSK-B.KO), returned to work Monday after more than four months’ leave following a heart operation.

Smedegaard Andersen, 53, fell ill during a skiing holiday in Switzerland at the end of December 2012. After surgery to replace a cardiac valve and hospitalization in Switzerland for two weeks, he returned to Denmark in mid-January.

He was initially expected to resume work at the beginning of February, but suffered a setback and had further surgery at the end of March.

“Having participated in a number of meetings and having been updated on our activities during the last couple of weeks, I am now ready to return to work,” Smedegaard Andersen said in a statement Monday.

During his absence, the company has been led by members of the executive board, reporting to Supervisory Board Chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen.

-By Flemming Emil Hansen, Dow Jones Newswires

The M/V COSCO Guangzhou is a 9,469 teu containership owned by Costamare and currently on a 12-year time charter to COSCO, who apparently pays on time.

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)– Greek shipping company Costamare Inc. (CMRE) will probably continue to grow through new builds and acquisitions and it remains optimistic about the global containership market, a company executive said Thursday.

“We’ve recently done some acquisitions and will continue to seek opportunistic buys,” Chief Financial Officer Gregory Zikos said, adding that the company has enough cash to buy more ships in future.

At Dec. 31, Costamare’s cash balances was about $144 million while its undrawn credit facilities were about $153 million. Costamare also issued a public offering of its common stock in March that raised about $100 million.

“We’ll look at everything as long as returns are forthcoming,” Zikos said, noting that, historically, the company’s return on equity has been close to 30%. The preferred rate of return for shareholders is normally 15%-20%.

The company would consider vessels that are much older and have a greater capacity than its existing average fleet, he said. He added that, for new builds, it is important the vessel be debt free towards the end of its charter license as this will help reduce financial risks resulting from volatility in charter rates.

Zikos said the outlook for Europe’s containership business is improving due to increased trade on certain routes. “We won’t be surprised if the charter rates, especially for the bigger vessels, edge upwards through the year,” he said.

Costamare’s customers include A.P Moller-Maersk, COSCO and Evergreen Marine. Although many shipping companies are facing financial pressure due to over-capacity, high docking prices and sluggish demand, Costamare hasn’t faced payment issues from its clients so far, Zikos said. “We are extremely happy with the quality of our customers,” he added.

-By Surabhi Sahu, Dow Jones Newswires

Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

A long and active life has come to an end, and Denmark has lost one of the few truly international businessmen that this country has produced. For more than 70 years, shipowner Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller has worked for the company and the country with the purpose of creating additional value and was a leading figure in the working of the company as well as in
society.

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller became joint owner of the company ”Firmaet A.P. Møller” in 1940. Since his father’s death in 1965 he was director and chairman of the most important companies in the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller undertook the daily management until 1993 and served as chairman of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S until 2003.

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller’s role encompassed a wide scope, and as a responsible leader and citizen he was interested in things great and small in society. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller commented on national as well as international political issues when the interests of the company were at stake.

Until the end, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller remained strongly committed on a personal level in the company’s business. Every week you would meet him on his way up the stairs to the sixth floor at the Esplanaden headquarters in Copenhagen, where he followed developments closely. Should issues in the business require an opinion or comment, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller always made his position clear in no uncertain terms accompanied with wit and always based on thorough knowledge of the company and the history.

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller often had a twinkle in his eye, and both I and many employees have experienced a humorous remark when meeting Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller in the corridors of Esplanaden.

Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller’s strong presence in the company made a significant difference to us all, both professionally and personally. His presence was a strength to the board, to the business and the employees and will be strongly missed.

- Michael Pram Rasmussen, Chairman of A.P. Møller  – Mærsk A/S

Image: MAERSK

COPENHAGEN -(Dow Jones)- Danish oil and shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S‘s (MAERSK-B.KO) container shipping arm Maersk Line won global market share in 2011 and has successfully implemented shipping rate hikes in the first months of 2012, but still expects to make a full-year loss, as it struggles against over-capacity and still unacceptably low rates, Maersk Chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen said Thursday.

Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company, has implemented rate hikes in March and April of $750 and $400, respectively, per standard 20 feet container. Of this, the company has been able to successfully pass on $1000 worth of rate hikes to consumers in total so far, said Pram Rasmussen, speaking at Maersk’s annual general shareholders meeting.

Maersk Line expects to implement further rate hikes in 2012, Pram Rasmussen said, but he also cautioned that with increasing over-capacity there remains a “latent risk of rate declines”.

In 2011, global shipping rates declined an average of 8%. While the container shipping industry sailed deep in the red in 2011, Maersk Line expanded its global market share to 15.5% at the end of 2011, a level Pram Rasmussen described as “satisfactory”.

“We had gotten too far behind in terms of market share, and we succeeded in winning it back in 2011,” Pram Rasmussen said, adding that Maersk Line‘s aggresive growth strategy “with all probability has added to the downwards rate pressure”.

Now, he said, focus has shifted decisively to profitability. “We have now decided that we can’t accept the low rates,” he said. The strict profitability-focus will be maintained until an acceptable return has been restored, he said.

The imbalance between offered tonnage and demand will, however, widen considerably in 2012, where growth in tonnage will rise by an estimated 10%, while demand is seen to expand by merely 5%.

But in the longer term, Pram Rasmussen said, “the supply and demand balance will improve, because the vast losses made by the industry in 2011 means there won’t be financing available to build new ships”.

Maersk Line operates some 630 ships world-wide. About 40% of its revenues are made on the Asia-Europe trade route.

- Flemming Emil Hansen, Copenhagen Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires

Yuri van der Sluis interviews social media expert Scott Stratten at the B2B Marketing Forum in Amsterdam, on 20 March 2012.

The interview was made after Scott’s keynote at the conference, and he talks about how Maersk Line’s interactive social media programme has caught on which has increased brand recognition and raised the awareness of an industry on a broad scale.

Looks like people are finally catching on…

Click here to view the embedded video.

At one point in the film they are shooting from the Maersk Deliverer’s rig floor at night with the lights reflecting against rain that was coming down through the derrick, then they sequence over to the rotary table as they are putting pipe dope on a new drill bit.   It reminded me of more than a few tours I spent trying to stay warm on the drill floor and to be quite honest, made me realize how lucky I am to have been an operational part of this industry and seen for myself some of the amazing work that happens out there on a daily basis.

This film does not an exaggerate, it’s just the way it is.  Whether it’s pouring down rain, freezing cold, in heavy seas, or in the middle of the night,  offshore exploration operations continue around the world and truly push the envelope of technology.

Check out this video…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nils S. Anderson, A.P. Moller – Maersk CEO

(Dow Jones) Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSK-B.KO) said Monday that Chief Executive Nils S. Andersen’s sick leave has been extended by six to eight weeks to undergo corrective surgery in connection with the prosthetic cardiac valve he got late December last year.

It was previously planned that Andersen would resume his duties today Monday, the company said, adding that the surgery is scheduled for Wednesday 28 March.

Until now, and going forward, the executive board will run the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. During Andersen’s absence, the individual members of the executive board will refer to the Chairman of the Board, Michael Pram Rasmussen.

“We have a real strength in having a top executive management team, which works closely together and has in-depth knowledge of each other’s business areas, and at the same time has the needed authorization to take swift decisions. The management team [...] will also be able to handle the extension of Nils S. Andersen’s sick leave without any loss of momentum,” Michael Pram Rasmussen said in a statement.

At 1017 GMT, shares were down 1.6% at DKK43,160.00.

-By Jens Hansegard, Dow Jones Newswires

Port Elizabeth New Jersey – Image courtesy APM Terminals

Empty containers are expensive | Every year Maersk Line spends nearly USD $1 billion related to the shipping of more than 4 million empty dry and reefer containers back to where customers need them. Through more strategic use of its equipment, Maersk Line is reducing the costs of this imbalance.

- By John Churchill, A.P. Moller – Maersk

What do glass bottles shipped from the Middle East to Europe, used cars from Japan to New Zealand and fertiliser from Russia to Brazil all have in common? They are all examples of cargo previously not worth the cost of transport that are now part of the solution to one of Maersk Line’s largest logistical problems.

“Most countries either export refrigerated cargo and import dry cargo or the other way around. That’s the nature of global trade, but it means our equipment often goes one way full and the other way empty,” says Maersk Line’s Moshe Loberant. “It is an inefficiency the industry has typically accepted, and it is very costly.”

Every year Maersk Line spends nearly USD 1 billion related to the shipping of more than 4 million empty dry and reefer containers back to where customers need them. But through more strategic use of its equipment, Maersk Line is sharply reducing the costs of this imbalance, raising the efficiency of its operations and even finding new business.

The basic magic of ‘NORs’
Leading this effort in Maersk Line is Moshe Loberant. He is the head of a project that is simply called ‘NOR’ for ‘Non-Operating Reefers.’ A NOR is a reefer container that is used to ship dry cargo.

That simple versatility is proving quite powerful in reefer heavy trading corridors (see chart). For instance, Brazil exports
thousands of tonnes of fresh produce and meat all over the world. And because of its rapidly growing economy, it also imports a lot of dry commodities for infrastructure and development, leaving Brazil with too many dry containers and too few reefers.

Under way for two years
If a customer shipping dry cargo to Brazil uses a NOR instead of a dry container, the balance is corrected. Brazil receives the reefer it needs, and Maersk Line removes the cost and time of moving two empty containers – one empty dry container out of Brazil and one empty reefer back into Brazil.

The NOR project has been under way for two years and has been studying this and other possible benefits of using NORs in
the trading corridors where there is a surplus of dry containers and a shortage of reefer containers. The success so far is encouraging.

In 2011, Loberant says approximately 85,000 NORs were utilised by customers, up 30% from 60,000 in 2009 when the
strategy was put in place. The associated cost savings were approximately USD $50 million in 2011. He expects both figures to jump again this year.

More than just a cost reduction
Empty containers take up precious space on ships and they also suck up valuable time for vessels which must stay longer in port, as well as for terminals that must load and unload them.

In Santos, Brazil, where reefer containers facilitate the country’s massive reefer commodity exports, NORs help improve port
productivity. The port of Santos averages roughly 40 container moves per hour, which is a fairly low rate compared to other
major ports. Using NORs reduces the total number of moves required, raising productivity.

“By using just 20 NORs to carry dry cargo into Santos, we can replace 40 dry container moves – 20 full dry containers coming in and the 20 empties that eventually go out,” says Michael Hansen, Portfolio Manager for Maersk Line’s Europe – Latin America services. “That is one hour’s worth of improved efficiency we can put into South America’s largest port,” he says.

“If a customer uses an NOR in the corridors where we have the biggest imbalances, we give them equipment and space prioritisation which helps them smooth out their supply chain. And in many cases they can receive a discount on the dry ocean freight rate,” says Loberant.

So far customers have showed an eagerness to use NORs and the opportunities to expand the project show no signs of slowing down. Maersk Line is even finding that NORs are enabling them to make incremental revenue on cargo that normally would not cover the cost of transport. Examples include Japanese used car exporters using NORs to reach markets in New Zealand and glass bottle manufacturers in the Middle East finding new markets in Europe and the southern hemisphere.
In Russia, Maersk Line’s Dennis Caro has used NORs to break into Russia’s three million-tonne market in organic fertiliser
shipped to Latin America each year, a business Maersk Line was never interested in before, due to the lack of profit.

“Using NORs enables us to enter into new markets which we wouldn’t have cared to enter before, and also to send a reefer
where it’s needed, earning money and saving on container repositioning costs,” says Caro, who is a trade analyst for North and South America and in charge of finding break-bulk conversion opportunities in the region.

In 2011, NORs out of Russia jumped to 6,500, up from only 300 in 2009. Expectations for next year are even better: Caro says Maersk Line’s entry into the fertiliser business has led to enquiries on NORs from other fertiliser shippers in the Baltic and Black Sea.

John Churchill is A.P. Moller-Maerk Group’s External Communcations Manager and is based in Copenhagen.

Image courtesy Maersk

Maersk Supply Service has won three new contracts with the Brazilian state owned oil company Petrobras (SAO:PETR3) for anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) services offshore Brazil. These 4-year contracts commencing in December 2012 are valued at approximately DKK 1.6 billion (USD $285 million) and have been assigned to Maerk’s L-type vessels, MÆRSK LEADER, MÆRSK LANCER and MÆRSK LAUNCHER. The vessels will be involved in ultra deep water anchor handling with both conventional and torpedo anchors.

“Brazil is a strategically important growth market for Maersk Supply Service, and these contracts reinforce our strong relationship with one of the industry leaders in deepwater exploration and production,” says Carsten Plougmann Andersen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service.

“We have been working with Petrobras since 1977 in ever increasing water depths requiring high safety, environmental, specialized operational performance and the most advanced and powerful vessels. We look forward to continue the deepwater-journey together,” Carsten Plougmann Andersen says.

Image courtesy Maersk

The 33-year-old Uggla, who is the grandson of the family-controlled group’s unrivalled patriarch, Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, is currently chief executive of the group’s Swedish tanker company Brostroem.

The move is a step up for Uggla, who has long been considered the likely successor of 98-year old Mc-Kinney Moller, the son of the founder of Mearsk. Mc-Kinney Moller has long withdrawn from the daily operations of the group, but still retains overall control through the A.P. Moller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Moller Foundation, which owns the majority a Maersk’s issued A stocks.

Uggla replaces Jesper Lok, who is leaving Maersk to become CEO of national Danish railroads operator, DSB, from May 1.

Uggla joined Maersk in 2004 and two years later became Maersk Line country manager based in Dubai, before he moved on to head Brostroem in 2009.

Svitzer has some 4,500 employees and operates a fleet of more than 500 vessels, while Brostroem has about 1,500 staff and operates 70 tanker vessels.

Robert Uggla’s mother, Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla, is chairman of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s supervisory board.

-By Flemming Emil Hansen, Copenhagen Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires