Whatever it takes!

This is a moment that I have been looking forward to for a long time. Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd now join forces and create the world’s most comprehensive network of trading lines. Together, our ships will move more than 18% of global trade and call ports in virtually all major populated regions in the world. Truly something to celebrate, for employees, shareholders and, above all, our customers who can now tap into a logistics company with better market coverage and a lot of attractive direct services.

Hamburg Süd and Maersk Line will continue to cultivate different market positions and separate value propositions building on the different strengths of the two companies. But many of our operational activities can now be coordinated to create synergies.

In my view, one of the major risks in such an integration process is that one party dominates the other whereby important know-how and engagement is lost. Our own integration of P&O Nedloyd some 10 years ago was certainly not flawless and we are determined to learn from that past. And even though Maersk Line might come in as the bigger partner in this marriage, we believe we have a lot to learn from our smaller but sometimes smarter German partner.

It is no secret in the world of shipping that Hamburg Süd has had some of the better customer satisfaction scores in our industry. For me and my colleagues in Maersk Line, the merger is therefore a much-appreciated opportunity to learn from a company which has truly excelled in building customer focus.

“Whatever it takes” is the tagline of Hamburg Süd and this uncompromising approach to serving the customers has created an outstanding brand and a high-quality product. Transferring this customer mindset to the entire new organization will be of immense importance and will for me as the Chief Commercial Officer be a key focus in the coming period of integration. I look forward to listening and learning!