Sowing the seeds for Australian grain exports in 1924

Maersk heritage is full of stories that provide direct links to our activities today. In the last issue of our quarterly magazine Maersk Post, we described how modifying our 20-foot containers helps Australian grain producers export their wheat more efficiently.

Our relationship with Australian grain producers goes back nearly 90 years: In 1924, a Maersk ship made two very important “first calls” to Australia and China.

The Sally Mærsk entered the Maersk fleet from the Odense Steel Shipyard (owned by A.P. Moller – Maersk) in April 1923. She was one of four large diesel ships deployed in the overseas tramp trade, a relatively new initiative at a time when diesel ships were normally used in the liner trade.

Sally Mærsk arrived in Fremantle near Perth, Western Australia, on 4 February 1924 to load 4,800 tons of wheat. From the ship’s accounts, it appears that the wheat was bagged in 49,234 bags, and it took until 18 February to finish filling the bags and winching them into the ship’s cargo holds (14 days in port was not unusual). The voyage at sea took 19 days, and on 9 March 1924 Sally Mærsk docked in Shanghai to unload her important cargo.

This voyage is marked in our books as the first call of a Maersk ship to Australia and to China, and therefore our first instances of doing business there. Much has happened since then, not least in our approach to cargo handling. Today, we offer efficient solutions using specialised containers. 

Read more here.