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Hamburg Sud, SeaLand and several other Maersk brands will be retired and integrated into the Maersk brand as the Danish company moves towards a unified brand
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Recently acquired Senator International air cargo and LF Logistics will be retired. Maersk says the services they offer will be brought together under one brand
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The integration will spare non-integrated brands APM Terminals, Svitzer, Maersk Container Industry and a few others, as they follow a different business model
Container lines Hamburg Sud and SeaLand will be retired when Danish transport and logistics giant A.P. Moller-Maersk integrates several units carrying its name as Maersk unifies its brand to better serve its customers.
Maersk sent its customers a letter dated January 27, 2023, informing them of the impending move, which came a day after the company announced an agreement with MSC, the world largest shipping line, to dissolve their 2M alliance and go separate ways.
Unified branding comes as new Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc implements changes in strategy to consolidate the business as the industry sails into stormy waters after two years of bumper profits.
“We are pleased to share our intention to move towards a singular, unified brand by integrating Maersk brands such as Hamburg Süd and SeaLand, among others. This means we will retire these brands, and integrate them into Maersk,” the Copenhagen-based company told its customers.
As for companies and other assets that Maersk acquired recently, they will also be retired as the group moves towards a single, unified brand. “In doing this, we bring together all their offerings, united under one brand,” Maersk said.
Two prominent companies that Maersk acquired in 2022 were Senator, a US air cargo operator that it bought in June 2022, and LF Logistics, a Hong Kong-headquartered logistics service provider across Asia that Maersk snapped up last September.
“In doing this, we bring together all their offerings, united under one brand. However, any action will be preceded by an in-depth review before we are able to conclude on the future of each brand in different geographies,” Maersk said.
Maersk posted the announcement on its website about an hour after sending the online letter to the customers.
“We realise that our current brand structure doesn’t reflect the way you, our customer, have your supply chain structured, and the need you have for end-to-end visibility and ability to drive outcomes,” Maersk said.
“We aim to unify our brands and our structure in a way that better reflect the reality of our customers. We are convinced that this will allow us to better respond to your logistical needs on a daily basis.”
In a question-and-answer section that was linked to the letter, Maersk said it will conduct an in-depth review before concluding the future of each brand in different geographies.
In reply to the question “What does this mean for brands like Hamburg Süd, Sealand?” Maersk said the expertise and strengths of the two container lines will be combined to give customers access to an even greater selection of integrated logistics solutions. But the two brands will be retired.
As Maersk unifies brand, however, the change will spare Maersk’s non-integrated brands such as APM Terminals, Maersk Container Industry (MCI), Svitzer, Maersk Supply Service (MSS), Maersk Training, and Maersk Line Limited (MLL)
These companies “follow a different business model. As a result, they will continue to operate under their existing brand names,” Maersk said.
The group said customers of any of the companies to be integrated will continue to enjoy the same level of service.
“On top of this, you will now have even further access and ease creating a more resilient and efficient supply chain, with increased reach and scope,” Maersk said, assuring the customers that the changes will be made with minimum of disruption for them.
