AP Moller Maersk reported a $192 million EBIT loss in its Ocean division during the first quarter of 2026, as persistent weakness in container freight rates continued to weigh heavily on profitability.
The result marks a sharp decline compared to Q1 2025, when the Ocean business generated an EBIT profit of $743 million. Revenue from the division fell to $6.67 billion, down from $7.58 billion a year earlier.
The pressure came primarily from lower average loaded freight rates, which declined to $2,081 per FEU compared to $2,427 during the same period last year — a drop of 14%.
Despite the challenging pricing environment, Maersk posted strong volume growth. The carrier transported 3.2 million loaded FEUs during the quarter, up 9% from 2.93 million FEUs in Q1 2025. Utilization also remained high at 96%, versus 92% a year earlier.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc stated that demand remained resilient across most regions, although the container market continues to suffer from significant volatility and structural overcapacity.
According to the company, the Middle East conflict did not materially impact first-quarter financial performance due to the timing gap between revenues and costs. However, Maersk warned that regional tensions could affect the remainder of the year through higher energy prices and trade disruptions in the Upper Gulf region, which accounted for approximately 6% of global container trade in 2025.
At group level, Maersk posted EBIT of $340 million, compared to $1.25 billion during Q1 2025.
The strongest performance came from APM Terminals, where EBIT increased 11% to $436 million. Terminal revenues rose to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier.
The Logistics & Services division also delivered growth, with EBIT rising 22% to $173 million while revenues increased from $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion.
For 2026, Maersk expects global container market growth between 2% and 4%. The group forecasts underlying EBIT between negative $1.5 billion and positive $1 billion, reflecting continued uncertainty surrounding overcapacity, new vessel deliveries, and potential reopening scenarios for the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
