by Mattia Micheli, SeaNewsEditor

1973: the decision to enter into the containerised market

Before entering the container market, Maersk studied the opportunity by consulting a board of experts. During one of these meetings, one stated, “We didn’t have to choose the containers; the market had chosen them for us”. It was 1973, and the decision was taken. 

1975: Adrian Maersk sails

The first Maersk vessel, the Adrian Maersk (1,984 TEU), sailed on 5 September 1975 from Port Elizabeth on the US East Coast. It was loaded with 385 containers. The first route was between the United States and the Asian market, which was one of the most active for the Maersk line at the time. 

This market, previously used for the supply chain by the US Military during the Vietnam War, had a significant advantage: it had already been standardised for containers. In Europe, more and more companies started using containers in the same period, but without a common standard. 

The European markets used different sizes of containers, and traffic was less reliable because there weren’t facilities for containers in some places. The Asian market, on the other hand, was already organised, which boosted Maersk’s expansion during the second half of the 1970s. 

80's-2000's: the significant expansion of Maersk

A decade later, in 1985, most routes worldwide were containerised or close to becoming so. This allowed the expansion of Maersk’s commercial fleet, which gave more attention to other routes.

The following step was in 1986 when Maersk Line ordered 14 new Panamax container vessels; the first of the series began to sail in 1988, just one year before the fall of the Wall of Berlin. 

The German reunification marked the beginning of a new period of expansion for Maersk during the 1990s. If in 1990, the Maersk offices were in just 40 countries (20 years before, there were only 5), in 2000, just a decade later, they were in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

2008: the financial crisis and the recovery

In 2007-2008, the Financial Crisis reduced Maersk's profits by 25% between 2008 and 2009. This marked the beginning of a challenging year as consumer demand plummeted and the volume fell.

Fortunately, the following year, 2010, was a record year for global trade, which began to rise in terms of values and volumes.

For this reason, after another five years of growth, the management of Maersk Group decided in 2016 to take a new approach to the corporation's future. All holdings not related to logistics were sold, resulting in a new operational approach.

The future of Maersk

One of the most important changes in Maersk in recent years has been the increasing use of IA technologies and other informatic devices, which are becoming increasingly important in managing the impressive quantity of data provided by customers and partners every day.

A future goal for Maersk is to develop a new integrated system with advanced technologies and partners. Currently the second greatest fleet in the world, Maersk is developing a system integrated with IT and allied for a new and more efficient moving of the 11 million containers transported annually.

The other pillar of Maersk's evolution will be "the way to zero," the green transition thanks to dual-fueled containerships and more frequent methanol usage for fueling its vessels. At a ceremony in Copenhagen, Maersk launched the world's first methanol-enabled cargo vessel named "Laura Maersk."