Maersk appoints John Wetherell to head its global airfreight forwarding
Maersk has appointed John Wetherell (above) as its global head of airfreight forwarding. It is ...
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By Alex Lennane
A “desperate” (according to one Maersk observer) Søren Skou has written a short article on LinkedIn, stating that the “first step in Maersk’s transformation has now been completed”.
“I strongly believe that we now have the building blocks we need to succeed,” the CEO added. But, he noted, in the move towards One Maersk, there was “much work to be done”, with technology and mindset key to the change.
“The software we build will make a significant difference …[and] people will be a crucial element for Maersk’s transformation”.
Some observers, however, are less sure. As one senior source notes on Loadstar Premium today, a “dispassionate look through Søren Skou’s communication barrage” is warranted, as “most of us are at a loss for words for what is happening to the group, as the change of leadership from Niels Smedegaard to Søren was clearly a ‘Maersk Line old guard revamp’, but it has really depressed shareholder value and in the process wasted so much human resources’ goodwill”.
Comment on this article
Martyn Benson
July 12, 2019 at 2:42 pmBoth links lead to the Premium site ……..the non-Premium article is truncated with no conclusion.
As for the emasculation of Maersk as a previously mighty shipping and trading company, they seem intent on moving into a pseudo Amazon or Google type of software and data processing company with no face and no tradition.
Not so long ago Skou announced Maersk would not be building any more mega ships but their competition is now running ahead with 23,000 TEU orders (MSC and HMM) with COSCO looking at 24,000 and beyond.
Has Maersk run out of stamina for the global liner trades and changing direction for the new digital age? Even now the company is unrecognisable from 10 years ago – perhaps their stated zero emissions target by 2050 is achievable simply by having no ships at all.
Alex Lennane
July 12, 2019 at 3:16 pmI am really sorry about the link – I’ve updated it now to the correct one.