Maersk Acquires Sea-Land

The deal joined the line that pioneered container shipping with the Danish group that became its largest operator, and it marked an early step in the consolidation that left a handful of carriers controlling most container capacity. Maersk took about 70 ships, some 200,000 containers and related terminals, while CSX kept Sea-Land's domestic services to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. The combined Maersk Sealand became the world's leading container line. For importers, consolidation means fewer carriers and alliances setting capacity and rates on major lanes, which matters when negotiating contract rates or finding space in peak season.

• Contract RateFreight price locked in for a set term
• Peak SeasonThe busiest stretch of the year for orders
• Full Container LoadFCLOne shipper's goods in a whole container

• Malcom McLean1913–2001 · Father of containerization
• Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller1913–2012 · Maersk leader in the container era
• A.P. Møller1876–1965 · Founder of the Maersk shipping group

• Sea-Land Transatlantic Container Service1966 · Regular container service opens to Europe
• Maersk Acquires P&O Nedlloyd2005 · Maersk becomes the largest container line by far
• Emma Maersk2006 · The largest container ship of its day enters service

1. CSX to sell Sea-Land unit (CNN Money) money.cnn.com
2. Maersk completes Sea-Land acquisition (Marine Link) marinelink.com