Maersk swaps out Danes for cheaper foreigner workers

Source: CPHPost

Shipper to replace 170 officers with foreign workers in the face of a 6 billion kroner deficit

Commerce Minister Lene Espersen has no problem with A.P. Moller Maersk’s plans to replace 170 maritime officers with cheaper foreign labour.

‘When a company’s earnings experience a great fall, it’s common sense to react like this,’ said Espersen. ‘It’s about getting through the crisis and being ready for developments to turn around’.

Container shipping company Maersk Line announced its plans yesterday to replace Danish workers with foreign ‘competent officers at a much lower price’.
The shipper insisted it is not firing the officers, but offering them voluntary redundancy.

Maersk Line has been fighting against falling freight rates and overcapacity since last year. It was reported in August that the shipper’s 6 billion kroner loss, brought the Maersk group’s total loss for the first six months of the year to 3 billion kroner.

The Danish Maritime Officers Association called yesterday ‘a dark day for Danish shipping’.

‘Even though the shipper wants to do this voluntarily, it doesn’t change the message, which sounds to me like they want to do away with Danish workers on container ships in favour of cheaper Asian employees,’ said Peer Bøje Brandenborg of the association to Business.dk.

A.P. Moller Maersk declined to comment on how much they expect to save by replacing the Danish workers.

But the Danish Maritime Officers Association estimates the amount to be between 30 and 33 million kroner annually.