Maersk sells tankers unit for $1.17bn

The context of this story is the ongoing consolidation of Maersk’s container supply chain operations – it’s not a shipping line and port operator anymore. No, it’s a “mobile inventory management firm, one executive quipped in private recently. The $1.17bn tanker sale proceeds will go into paying down Maersk’s debt, while ownership of the tanker unit will not actually change that much – it is being bought by AP Møller Holdings, which remains the largest shareholder of Maersk Group. In turn, AP Møller Holdings is set to create tanker joint-venture with Japanese chipping conglomerate Mitsui.