Peter Mærsk Møller
Peter Mærsk Møller | |
---|---|
Born | 22 September 1836 Rømø, Denmark |
Died | 9 February 1927 | (aged 90)
Peter Mærsk Møller (22 September 1836 – 9 February 1927) was a sea captain who perhaps is best known as the father of Arnold Peter Møller, founder of the Maersk corporation, and grandfather of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, who made Maersk the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world.[1]
This progenitor of the Maersk business conglomerate also made an impact on Danish shipping history himself. He passed his merchant officer's examination at Flensborg Navigation School and became a captain in 1861. His first assignment was the ship Prima in 1862.[2]
After the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Rømø, as Flensborg, passed under Prussian rule (and from 1871 German territory; Rømø remained so until 1920, and Flensborg – now Flensburg – still is a German city), so Captain Mærsk Møller moved to Dragør, only a few kilometres to the South of Copenhagen. He was the first in Denmark to suggest steam ships instead of sailing ships.[citation needed] He did so in 1884, as he moved from Dragør to Svendborg, on the island of Fyn.[2]
In 1904, Peter Mærsk Møller, with the fifth of his nine sons, Arnold Peter Møller, founded Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg i 1904 ("The Steam Ship Company of Svendborg 1904").[3] Eight years later, the success of this enterprise encouraged A.P. Møller to start his own: Dampskibsselskabet af 1912, which eventually became the Maersk business conglomerate.
References
- ^ "Container shipping". Economist.com. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
- ^ a b http://www.svendborghistorie.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=844:peter-maersk-moller-skibsreder-i-svendborg&catid=12:personalhistorier&Itemid=19
- ^ "Fra lille dampskibsselskab til Danmarks største virksomhed", DR, 13 December 2005. Accessed 26 November 2015.