Sackings at Maersk as CEO targets box business for shake-up

AP MOLLER Maersk will restructure its container business, struggling since it took over P&O Nedlloyd in 2005, and remove top executives, the Financial Times reported, citing two letters to senior staff from the unit's chief executive Eivind Kolding.

Business units, including Maersk Logistics trucking and warehousing, will be separated from the container unit's shipping line and turned into standalone divisions, said Mr Kolding.

Four executives will be removed from the container unit's seven-man board, Mr Kolding said in a separate letter, according to the newspaper.

The strategic shift was approved by AP Moller's board on November 28, and is supported by the group's new chief executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen, the letter said.

The container business has turned bureaucratic and cumbersome, and risks losing its leadership to a rival unless there is a turnaround, Mr Kolding said in the FT report.