HK now HQ for combined ops; Singapore office oversees business in South-east Asia
Maersk Line, the world’s top container shipping company, has merged its Singapore and Hong Kong regional offices.
Hong Kong is now headquarters for the combined operations, while the Singapore outlet is a country cluster office overseeing the shipping line’s business in South-east Asia. The company expects to boost staff strength here as a result.
As part of reorganisation efforts, Maersk has reduced the number of its regional offices from eight to seven by merging its Asia-Pacific (South-east Asia and Oceania) and North Asia regions.
“The regional responsibility for Asia-Pacific will be in the combined Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong,” the company said in a statement to The Straits Times.
Previously, its Hong Kong office oversaw operations in North Asia, comprising mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
The existing regional management team in Hong Kong will remain and oversee a larger geography, the company added.
“The merger of the regions is in line with internal re-organisation of the company,” said a spokesman. “Combining the two regions will enable simpler and more standardised processes. “This will allow us to create a leaner organisation to operate with greater transparency and alignment on a regional, as well as cluster (sub-regional), level.”
The company’s office here will oversee Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar.
This means that there will be more jobs based here as a bigger management team is being set up to head the South-east Asia cluster, Maersk said. “We have been operating in Singapore since 1975 and Singapore remains of strategic importance to the entire Maersk group.”
The company has investments of more than US$12 billion (S$17 billion) here and is one of the largest shipowners in Singapore with around 130 vessels and rigs under the Singapore flag.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the sector is going through a rough patch, with more consolidation and restructuring expected. A spokesman said: “The shipping industry continues to operate in a challenging environment of low freight rates, decreasing demand and overcapacity. This poor market outlook is likely to persist. Low energy prices, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and slow trade growth have dampened global economic activity, with knock-on effects on the shipping industry.”
MPA also noted that Singapore remains Maersk’s largest office outside of Denmark, with representation from the group’s core business areas. Its South-east Asia cluster is now headed by Mr Bo Wegener, previously the country manager for Thailand and Myanmar.
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Maersk Line shifts Asia HQ to Hong Kong
As part of Maersk Line’s massive restructuring it is switching its Asia headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong. Its two Asia regions, Asia Pacific and North Asia, have become one.
Last November, Maersk Line, the world’s largest container carrier, outlined huge spending cuts including slashing its global headcount by at least 4,000 and nixing 240,000 teu of newbuild options.
Lars Mikael Jensen, who has headed up Maersk Line’s Asia Pacific operations from Singapore since 2014, returns to Copenhagen to take up a management position within the operations department.
The combined Asia Pacific Region – with regional head office in Hong Kong – will be headed by Robbert van Trooijen, a former P&O Nedlloyd employee.
A spokesperson for Maersk Line told Splash the changes were “in order to create a leaner, simpler and more focused commercial organisation”.
Singapore’s increasing costs have been cited in polls carried by this title as a very serious concern for foreign shipowners in the city-state. Maersk is Singapore’s largest shipowner in deadweight terms.
Sources: Straits Times, Splash 24/7
Source: Splash 24/7