Danish shipping company Maersk is ending decade-old traditions at its upcoming general annual meeting. This year, the event will be exclusively online for the first time ever, meaning physical attendance for shareholders will be impossible. 

The Maersk AGM has been convened in different places around Copenhagen for many years, and has often provided an opportunity for shareholders and media to meet the Mærsk family. 

But times are changing, and big conventions are a thing of the past, Maersk says.

”Recent years have shown that fewer shareholders attend the physical general meetings,” the shipping company writes in the notice convening the AGM on March 28.

Maersk hopes more people will show up once physical attendance is no longer a requirement.

”A virtual general meeting will be available for a wider group of the company’s shareholders and makes it easy for both Danish shareholders and shareholders abroad to participate, ask questions and possibly vote,” says the publicly listed company. 

Should any such shareholder want to participate, they need only sign up on Maersk’s website. Afterward, they’ll receive guidance for how to log on for the event, ask questions, vote, and more.

During the pandemic, under which restrictions made it difficult to hold physical gatherings, Maersk tried out several different models for its AGMs.

In 2020, the meeting was meant to take place at the Copenhagen Opera House, but was instead moved to company headquarters elsewhere in the Danish capital, and Maersk also urged shareholders to stay home. In 2021, the meeting was exclusively online but out of necessity rather than by choice.

Last year, the arrangement was partially online although Maersk had erected a tent outside headquarters for shareholders who wanted to be present.

On the agenda is the election of Kasper Rørsted, former Adidas CEO, as new board member.

English edit: Daniel Pedersen