Maersk marks 50 years in containerisation, reshaping world trade

On 5 September 1975, the Adrian Maersk slipped away from Pier 51 in Newark, New Jersey, carrying 385 containers. That marked the start of history in the making for A.P. Moller–Maersk. Although the first container vessel steamed out of Newark Harbour in 1956, large-scale containerisation on a global scale came much later. But for Danish shipping company A.P. Moller–Maersk, that moment marked the start of its first fully containerised service, and the beginning of a five-decade journey that would turn the company into a world leader in global trade.

Maersk marks 50 years since it entered the container shipping business. For a company that had hesitated at first, its eventual embrace of containerisation was transformative. Today, containers move an estimated 90 percent of the world’s goods, from clothing and electronics to raw materials and food. Without containerisation, globalisation as we know it would have been unthinkable.

From hesitation to bold commitment
Maersk’s arrival in container shipping was not immediate. By the time the Adrian Maersk began its voyage, American trucking entrepreneur Malcolm McLean had already pioneered the practice nearly two decades earlier. In 1956, McLean loaded 58 trailer bodies onto the converted tanker Ideal X, launching what became the modern container revolution. Competitors like Sea-Land and Japan’s NYK Line had also jumped into containerisation well before Maersk.

So why did Maersk wait until 1975? Company historian Charlotte Andersen explains that internal caution delayed the move. “An internal study in 1970 had concluded a bit cautiously that the investment was too big to justify,” she notes. At the time, Maersk was diversifying into multiple industries, from aviation to oil and gas, and the enormous capital required for container vessels and specialised port equipment seemed like too great a risk.

But by 1972, another internal study reversed the conclusion. This time, executives acknowledged that the “threat” of missing out on containerisation was too significant. By May 1973, Maersk had placed orders for nine container ships from German shipyards. The first delivery, the 1,800-TEU Adrian Maersk, arrived in August 1975.

The vessel was deployed on the Panama Line, a service Maersk had run since 1928, connecting the U.S. East Coast with Asia through the Panama Canal. Within a decade, Maersk had added 33 more container or semi-container vessels to its fleet. By 1985, the company was the world’s third-largest container carrier.

A global transformation
What makes Maersk’s story emblematic is how quickly the company shifted its entire operational structure around containers. In just 10 years, most of its conventional liner services had been phased out or converted. It was a pace of change that reflected not just bold decision-making, but also the sheer inevitability of containerisation in reshaping trade.

The wider shipping industry was undergoing a parallel revolution. Containerisation dramatically cut costs, improved efficiency, and reduced damage to goods. Ships that had once taken weeks to load and unload could now turn around in a fraction of the time. The scale was enormous: today, more than 37 million TEUs of containers move in over 19 million vessel slots worldwide.

The result was a surge in international trade volumes. A standardised steel box, the twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) became the backbone of global commerce. Whether loaded with smartphones in Shenzhen, textiles in Dhaka, or cars in Hamburg, the container enabled the safe, secure, and efficient transportation of goods at a pace previously unimaginable.

Ninety percent of everything
The centrality of container shipping is often invisible to the average consumer. Yet, as journalist Rose George famously pointed out in her book Ninety Percent of Everything, modern life depends on it. On ship-tracking websites, seas appear as clusters of dots, each one representing a vessel carrying thousands of containers. Without them, supermarket shelves would be bare, clothing racks empty, and fuel stations dry.

Despite this importance, the industry has often been out of public view. Shipping has faced criticism over its reliance on “flags of convenience,” environmental challenges, and labour issues affecting its 1.5 million seafarers. Yet even with these concerns, shipping remains the greenest form of large-scale freight transport, with far lower emissions per tonne-kilometre than road or air alternatives.

Looking ahead: the next 50 years
As Maersk reflects on half a century in container shipping, attention also turns to the future. The next five decades promise transformations just as significant as those sparked in 1975.

One of the most pressing challenges is sustainability. Shipping’s contribution to global CO2 emissions, though relatively efficient, remains substantial. Companies like Maersk are investing heavily in decarbonisation, exploring fuels such as methanol, ammonia, and even hydrogen. Earlier this year, Maersk launched its first methanol-powered container vessel, signalling a serious commitment to a net-zero trajectory.

Digitalisation is another frontier. The integration of smart technologies, blockchain-based documentation, and AI-driven logistics promises greater efficiency and transparency across supply chains. Container tracking, once reliant on alphanumeric identifiers, is increasingly being supported by IoT-enabled monitoring systems. This shift will provide real-time visibility across multimodal transport, from ship to truck to rail.

Geopolitical shifts also loom large. Containerisation, by design, thrives on global interconnectedness. Yet, the past decade has seen disruptions ranging from trade wars to the pandemic to canal blockages like the Ever Given incident in the Suez Canal. Resilience and adaptability in supply chains will be crucial as companies and governments navigate a more complex geopolitical environment.

For Maersk, which began with a single steamship in 1904, the evolution into one of the world’s largest logistics companies reflects both foresight and adaptability. Its entry into containerisation may have been cautious, but its eventual transformation was bold. Fifty years later, Adrian Maersk’s voyage stands not just as a milestone for the company, but as a turning point in global trade itself.

As containers continue to carry “ninety percent of everything,” the next 50 years of innovation, sustainability, and resilience will determine how this steel box, so ordinary in appearance, yet revolutionary in impact, continues to shape our world.