After AP Moller Maersk’s announcement of its upcoming divorce from the 2M company as the right time to also reveal a major brand cleanup. According to Alphaliner, Maersk is abandoning the ‘Hamburg Süd’ and ‘Sealand’ brands as part of an upcoming restructuring, in favor of a unified approach.
This will mean the end of independent operator names such as ‘Hamburg Süd’ and the three regional ‘Sealand’ outlets in the Americas, Europe and the Mediterranean and Asia.
On top of this, other non-operating companies such as Maersk’s online booking and support platform ‘Twill’ are likely to join the parent brand soon as well.
Hamburg Süd will cease to exist after 152 years. Maersk had acquired Hamburg Süd at the end of 2017 and initially decided to retain the well-known ‘red boat’ brand.
However, over the past five years, Maersk has already merged and simplified many parallel structures.
Therefore, Hamburg Süd turned more and more from an aircraft carrier to a mere Maersk brand.
The three ‘Sealand’ companies originate from Maersk Group’s regional subsidiaries, MCC Transport for Asia, Seago Line for Europe and the Mediterranean, and Sealand for the Americas.
Maersk’s three regional lines moved under the ‘Sealand’ brand from 2018 to 2019.
It is not yet known to what extent the rebranding will also be reflected at the corporate level through a leaner and more streamlined setup with fewer subsidiaries and more direct control from Copenhagen.
Source: Alphaliner
