Maersk Line consolidates Asia operations, relocates HQ from Singapore to Hong Kong

Singapore will become a country cluster office.

UPDATE as of 2:20 PM:

Following queries from SBR, Maersk Line clarified that the company has merged its operations in two existing regions, namely Asia Pacific and North Asia. Prior to this merger, Hong Kong has already served as its North Asia headquarters since 2008, while Singapore served as its Asia Pacific headquarters.  

After the merger, Maersk's Singapore operations will become a country cluster office that will oversee its Southeast Asian operations, while its Hong Kong office will serve as the headquarters of its combined Asia-Pacific operations.

"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," a Maesrsk Line spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson added that the move will lead to more jobs based in the Singapore office as a bigger management team is being set up to head the South-East Asia cluster.

Lars Mikael Jensen, who had previously headed the Singapore office, will return to Maersk Line HQ in Copenhagen, Denmark to take up a management position within the operations department starting 1 February 2016.

Through the merger, Maersk Line has reduced the number of regional offices from eight to seven. The combined Asia Pacific Region will be headed by Robbert van Trooijen.

This is part of the group's organisational changes following Maersk Line's announcement on 4 November 2015, where it revealed a series of cost-cutting initiatives.

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Shipping giant Maersk Line is moving its headquarters to Hong Kong from Singapore, according to a report by Shipping Watch.

The container carrier expects to cut 4,000 of the total 23,000 on-land positions worldwide ahead of 2017 as digitalizations and organizational changes come into full effect.

The decision also means that a number of functions and jobs are being discontinued at the Singapore office, the most notable of which likely being that Maersk Line's Regional Manager, Lars Mikael Jensen, has been pulled back to the carrier's global HQ in Copenhagen.

Read the full report here.