AP Moller-Maersk’s new structure was one of the main reasons that helped the company limit the impact of the June cyber-attack, which cost the Danish giant between $200m and $300m.
While the conglomerate’s executives were using WhatsApp trying to resolve the chaotic situation that emerged after the virus hit the company, it was the shared infrastructure and one decision-making team that were vital in tackling the issue, an executive says.
Vincent Clerc, chief commercial officer of Maersk Line, told TradeWinds: “At first, it was really surprising because everything went down.
“The phone from which I am calling you now didn’t work for a few days.
“We only had our personal mobile phones and WhatsApp.
“But with the cyber-attack, we had the opportunity to really act as one team. We shared the infrastructure, so it was this relationship and this really strong feeling that we have a common strategy that helped us deal with the crisis in the most effective way.
“The fact that we had one leadership team making decisions on how we are going to handle this, was also important.”
AP Moller-Maersk launched its new business model almost a year ago, introducing two divisions: Transport & Logistics and Energy.
Clerc had a lot of praise for people who “threw themselves on the task” during the tough first days after the attack.
“The efforts that people put through the first few days really kept us going,” he added.
Clerc told TradeWinds that this type of cyber-attack is not going away in the near future and outlined the company’s strategy to protect itself better in the future.
“These were very defining moments for us on what to do,” he said.
“We have learnt that we need to get better on what we call ‘hardening’ the estate and isolating ourselves and building a stronger wall. This experience will shape a lot about how we develop.”
Pen and paper not an option
However, Maersk’s digitalisation plans will remain intact despite the cyber-attack.
Clerc said: “But this is no way slowing down the way we want to digitize everything. We are not going back to pen and paper.”
Regarding the company’s second quarter results, Clerc said he was happy to see Maersk Line back to black.
The boxship owner reported net profit of $339m, compared to $151m loss in the previous year.
But the group turned red for the second quarter as it posted net deficit of $264m, against a profit of $118m.
Clerc said: “I think the key takeaway on the results was that we saw a strong recovery from Maersk Line.
Reasons to be happy
“Also, the recovery is well distributed and is not riding on a specific geographical area.
“This gives us more confidence that it is going to last and this is the reflection of fundamentals in the industry.
“There are a few good reasons to be happy with some of these fundamentals.”
