Maersk set to split into two separate divisions

Danish conglomerate A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S announced on Thursday that it was to split in two separate divisions, as it struggles to deal with a downturn in the shipping industry and falling oil prices.

In June the company was thrown into disarray after firing chief executive Nils Andersen and putting forward the prospect of breaking up the group or selling part of it.

Maersk will now be divided into a Transport and Logistics Unit and an Energy division, which may not be part of the group as a whole.

The container industry has been involved in a price war after the rates for freights tumbled at the same time as massive crude oil price drops.

"The industries in which we are operating are very different, and both face very different underlying fundamentals and competitive environments,” admitted chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen in a press release.

"Separating our transport and logistics businesses and our oil and oil related businesses into two independent divisions will enable both to focus on their respective markets," he added.