Maersk ponders job cuts at Lindo

Danish shipping group AP Moller Maersk is to launch a cost-cutting programme at its Odense shipyard that could jeopardise jobs as it seeks to stem mounting losses. “The shipyard is still operating at a massive loss and is hit hard by the international fluctuations, including the development of the U.S. dollar,” the shipbuilder said in a statement, adding that Far East competitors enjoyed lower costs.

The drive at the Lindo shipyard is part of a wider effort to improve profitability at the container shipping and oil production company. A cost-cutting plan for the yard was discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting. “It is necessary now to bring down the yard’s costs significantly in order to provide momentum for its possibilities of surviving in the long term,” the shipyard’s chairman, Lars-Erik Brenoe, said in a statement. He warned it might not be possible to avoid job cuts. The yard currently employs around 2,900 people.