AP Møller–Mærsk: Rerouting Global Trade in Response to Attacks in the Red Sea

Late in 2023, AP Møller–Mærsk A/S (Maersk), along with several other shipping companies, came under attack when Houthis militants in Yemen began targeting container ships travelling from the Red Sea through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Forced to reroute Maersk’s ships around the Cape of Good Hope, Vincent Clerc, chief executive officer, acknowledged in January 2024 that the longer shipping route was surely to have economic and environmental repercussions. For Maersk, the longer, but safer, Cape route not only challenged Maersk’s reputation as a reliable logistic company but also put the company’s laudable environmental goals at risk. Given the risk to cargo and crew, how could Clerc rebalance Maersk’s environmental and operational strategies to manage costs and maintain timely shipments all while avoiding attacks and staying on track with efforts to minimize environmental effects and meet a goal of being a net-zero shipping company by 2040?