Industry news
Industry news
Maersk to part with Safmarine and Damco brands
Sep 04,2020

As part of the company’s ongoing transformation and in a move to simplify its organisation, shed costs further and improve its customer focus, Maersk Line is to phase out its Safmarine and Damco brand names. The process, which will be completed by the end of 2020, could led to more than 3,000 of the company’s staff being made redundant.

 

In addition to these brand names disappearing, Maersk is to implement changes that will result in its own liner services back offices working more closely with those of Hamburg Süd, the German shipping company it acquired in 2017. It believes this will create a more unified structure while putting in place highly motivated and customer-centric teams and at the same time allowing the two company’s services to remain differentiated. The Hamburg Süd name will be maintained.

 

Vincent Clerc, CEO of ocean and logistics services at AP Møller-Maersk, said the move had been driven by the “evolving supply chain needs” of our customers. He elaborated: “To meet these needs, we’re bringing our company’s expertise and capabilities even closer together and these latest steps are key to accelerating our transformation.”

 

Safmarine is a strong brand across Africa and particularly in South Africa, where the company was established in 1946. Having built a strong reputation through its customer-facing approach to business and its support of the South African Maritime community, this move will not be liked by many of them.

 

But Clerc argued that “the value propositions of Maersk and Safmarine had converged over time as both brands have focused on building a customer-centric culture and as digital interactions with customers have increased.

 

He stressed: “With the integration of Safmarine, we can present Safmarine customers with the full ocean and supply chain offering and more scale. At the same time, I’m very excited to have Safmarine’s passion for customers closer to Maersk by uniting our teams.”

 

Commenting on the phasing out of Damco, which for the past two years had focused on the air cargo and ocean LCL sectors, Clerc said “Businesses need these services products to connect their supply chains and with these offerings firmly placed in our global integrated portfolio, we aim to serve our businesses better and more efficiently across their supply chains".

 

He added: “Our colleagues in Damco have delivered a remarkable effort under challenging market conditions, serving customers through focus, discipline and expertise which will now be a strong asset for our customers in Maersk.”

 

The company is also investing to support its strategy. Recent months have seen Maersk buy more landside and Customs services type businesses, including warehousing and distribution facilities, as Søren Skou, group CEO, pursues his integrated container logistics and transport concept for the group. Today, for instance, has seen Maersk finalise its acquisition of Gothenburg-headquartered KGH Customs Services, a pan-European customs services provider and trade management company.