Key team members: Caroline Pontoppidan, Head of Corporate Affairs; Casper Munch, Head of Legal; Christian Demant Nordentoft, Head of M&A Legal; Christian Rasmussen, Head of Energy Transition Legal and Compliance; Ewelina Andrzejewska, Head of Claims; Jacob Ramsgaard Nielsen, Head of customer contracting and special projects; Joachim Møller Andersen, Head of Legal IT and Digital; Michael Villi Møller, Head of procurement support; Winnie Huey Mein Mah, Head of Maritime Law; Eugene Nai General Counsel, Asia-Pacific; Maarten Hepkema. General Counsel, IMEA; Peter Jabbour, General Counsel, Americas; Rene Koopman, General Counsel, Europe.

Team size: 350+

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Over the past 12–18 months, our team has worked on several notable transactions and strategic concessions. In April 2025, APM Terminals completed the acquisition of the Panama Canal Railway Company, securing a critical cross‑isthmus link between the Pacific and Atlantic and enhancing its intermodal position in the Americas. In February 2026, APM Terminals acquired a 37.5% minority stake in the Southern Container Terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port, partnering with DP World, which retains operational control. This marks Maersk’s entry into a major Red Sea logistics hub through a partnership‑driven model rather than full ownership.

In December 2025, APM Terminals secured a long‑term (approximately 30‑year) operating concession for a new container terminal in Bangladesh, representing a significant expansion into South Asia. In September 2025, the concession for the Progreso terminal in Yucatán was extended by 19 years, supported by a committed investment of around US$160mn to upgrade capacity and infrastructure. Additionally, in March 2025, APM Terminals renewed and extended its lease at the Elizabeth terminal in the Port of New York/New Jersey, including commitments for capacity expansion in collaboration with the Port Authority.

In February 2026, Maersk announced a joint investment with Eurogate of approximately EU€1bn to expand terminal capacity in Bremerhaven by 1mn TEU, strengthening its position in Northern Europe’s key gateway market. Finally, following an announcement in February 2025, APM Terminals is progressing with a US$300mn expansion at the Port of Salalah to increase capacity to 6.5mn TEU, reinforcing its strategic presence in the Middle East.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?

Since Maersk’s strategic realignment in 2018, we have prioritised enhancing our local presence to effectively manage most jurisdictions through our internal teams. We have deliberately established centralized centers of excellence for areas with both high volume and complexity, and utilize offshore resources for lower-complexity, high-volume tasks.

As a consequence of the above, our standard approach is to handle matters internally, turning to external counsel only when we require specialised expertise, support with jurisdiction-specific issues, or additional capacity. Performance is assessed based on the quality of advice, efficiency, cost control, teamwork, responsiveness, and alignment with DEI and ESG values.

What are some of the biggest legal or regulatory challenges currently facing your industry, and how is your team preparing to address them?

Being a global company forming part of critical infrastructure in numerous countries, a key challenge is the increased geopolitical instability. Other challenges include sustainability and decarbonisation regulation, competition, and increasing fluid regulatory environment. We address these challenges through horizon scanning, capability building, cross‑functional governance, and investment in technology for risk monitoring.

How do you approach talent development and knowledge sharing within your legal team? Are there any specific practices or programmes in place?

We have developed a strategy for Legal called “EPIC”. The “P” in EPIC represents our vision around our people. In addition to the training generally available to employees within Maersk, we have established mentorship program within the legal department and have “MIX Groups” aimed at fostering a sense of belonging within the Legal community across the company.

Regarding knowledge sharing, we have established a legal operations function, which is tasked with organizing our knowledge resources, organize trainings and implement new technology.