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Safmarine and Damco names to disappear

[ September 1, 2020   //   ]

AP Moller-Maersk is to carry out a restructuring of its shipping and forwarding activities, with the Safmarine and Damco brands set to disappear by the end of the year.

The Safmarine southern African shipping brand will be integrated into Maersk while forwarding arm Damco air and less than container load offering will be combined with Maersk’s logistics and services. The Danish owned group is also promising a simplified and customer-centric global ocean and logistics organisation.

Shipping subsidiary Hamburg Süd will remain as a separate entity but back office operations will be brought closer together into more customer-centric teams, while continuing to offer two separate brands with a differentiated service model, says AP Moller.

It added that the changes “represent a major step towards becoming an integrated container transport and logistics company, connecting and simplifying customers’ supply chains”.

In a statement, Hamburg Süd said that multi-brand Regional Ocean Management team would be set up and an extended management team in its Hamburg headquarters comprising the chief executive, chief financial officer, global heads of marketing, key account management, customer experience, IT and HR. Hamburg Süd  chief executive Dr Arnt Vespermann, said: “Hamburg Süd is known in the industry for its unmatched customer proximity, for its long-term and direct customer relationships, for being reachable in person, and for providing advice at the local level,” said and continued: We want to further enhance these advantages for our customers in order to differentiate ourselves even more. Our customers expect a very personal and local customer experience, and this is what they’ll get even more of in future.” 

AP Moller-Maersk  chief executive of ocean and logistics Vincent Clerc, said: “Evolving supply chain needs are increasing the demand for multiple modes of transport and to meet these needs, we’re bringing our company’s expertise and capabilities even closer together. Taking these steps are key to accelerating our transformation.

“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.”

AP Moller-Maersk said that the integration of Damco’s air and LCL activies into Maersk would create a simplified, connected and agile experience under the Maersk brand, as well as to its scale. Maersk would not pursue the ocean FCL Multi-carrier product NVOCC as a general offering.

Clerc 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.”

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