Michael Pram Rasmussen has resigned as chairman of AP Moller-Maersk at the end of a financial year that saw a heavy bottom line loss and an 'unsatisfactory' underlying profit but finished with projections for a brighter 2017.

Jim Hagemann Snabe will replace Rasmussen at the head of the boardroom table following a year which saw major changes to the structure of the Danish group.

Rasmussen,