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In the first week following his presentation of “The New Normal” manifesto, 86% of the thousands of votes placed in the online polls on changingthewaywethinkaboutshipping.com agree that the time has come to change the way we do business in container shipping. The manifesto calls for better industry reliability, transparency and environmental performance. The aim of the site was to host the industry debate that followed Eivind’s declaration. Florida Shipowners Group Inc. President Peter Spiller wrote that he agrees fully with Kolding, who he described as “bravely searching for the right questions and answers to assure Maersk Line’s future.” However, he disputes the statement that containerised shipping “has not changed much.” He suggests a fourth “future strength” for an evolved Maersk Line, citing retired auto industry executive Bob Lutz’s latest book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters. “What Lutz shared about the collapse of GM suggests that in addition to improving reliability, ease of doing business, and sustainability, Kolding should rebalance his management’s skill profile. Effectiveness of today’s ascendant professional manager must be strengthened by assuring all are ship guys with a passion for providing a great product for customers they love,” Spiller emphasises. PR practitioner Maria Pavlova commented that she believes the rise of corporate social responsibility has led to a change in customer needs going “beyond accuracy or time of shipping but how the goods are being transported.” “It is no secret that shipping is not really visible to customers who merely buy the goods and it is great to see that Maersk Line has started changing that,” she wrote. “There is no doubt that container shipping has entered new waters. These and also other trends will be setting the industry's agenda for the next years and I think Maersk Line is doing a great job in being a leader of shaping the industry." Maersk Line Global Director of Communication, Klavs Valskov, commented: “It is fair to conclude that we have obtained our goal of establishing a debate and a burning platform for ourselves to return to when we later launch initiatives that respond to this call-for-change. We want to position Maersk Line as a thought leader of our industry with a clear vision of building a prosperous future for our customers and ourselves.” Close to 200 different media in 35 different countries wrote more than 1,000 articles about The New Normal, including The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and The Financial Times amongst others. Maersk Line, press release |
The new normal: shipping’s future under debate