Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk: The two sides of war

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Interview — Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk

BBC World Service
Date: March 13, 2026
Host: Jonathan Josephs
Guest: Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk
Theme: The global impact of war in the Middle East on shipping, supply chains, and navigation, focusing on the closure of critical waterways and the outlook for global trade.

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the unprecedented closure of key Middle Eastern shipping lanes — the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea/Suez Canal route — due to the ongoing conflict between Iran, the United States, and Israel. As the CEO of Maersk, Vincent Clerc offers an insider perspective on how these disruptions are shaking global trade and supply chains, the immediate and potential long-term effects, steps being taken to address the crisis, and the possible role of military escorts and diplomatic solutions in restoring stability.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Immediate Impact of the Strait of Hormuz Closure

[03:30]

• Three Waves of Impact:
  • Security of Employees and Assets:
    • Maersk prioritized the safety of 6,000 colleagues in the Gulf and Israel and secured 10 ships caught in the upper Gulf.
    • “It was about securing our colleagues, securing our assets, securing our facilities across the region.” – Vincent Clerc [03:43]
  • Cargo Pileups:
    • Ships outside the closed strait cannot remain idle; cargo, including perishable goods, had to be offloaded and rerouted.
    • Limited space to store up to 40,000 containers per week exacerbates the challenge.
  • Energy Market Dislocation:
    • The closure has begun to disrupt global energy flows and could lead to shortages, especially in regions dependent on Gulf oil.
    • “We are starting to see important dislocations across the globe… facilities in the Middle East and Far East having some constraint looming about availability of fuel.” – Vincent Clerc [05:21]

2. Red Sea and Suez Canal Disruption

[06:20 – 07:39]

• Resumed shipping through the Red Sea was reversed again for safety, mainly affecting transit times and reliability.
• Ships rerouted around Africa (Cape of Good Hope), creating unpredictable supply chain delays worldwide:
  • “Ships take longer to arrive at port… customers don’t get their weekly injection of goods… it can have important impact on the ability to supply.” – Vincent Clerc [07:17]

3. Supply Chain Strain in the Middle East

[07:46 – 09:20]

• Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE rely heavily on food imports.
• Emergency measures, such as land bridges and trucking routes from Oman, are being implemented to keep essential goods moving.
• Sea-to-land substitutions are only enough for crucial goods, not industrial exports like petrochemicals.
  • “We can prioritize the most important goods… but for a lot of the industrial production, for a lot of exports… this is going to have to take a back seat.” – Vincent Clerc [08:57]

4. Global Ripple Effects and Uncertainty

[09:34 – 10:21]

• Delays initially felt in the region could spread globally if the crisis persists.
• Maersk is closely monitoring for escalating shortages and adjusting as possible, but long-term solutions remain unclear.

5. Customer Coordination and Cargo Management

[10:21 – 11:30]

• Maersk is not unilaterally abandoning cargo at substitute locations, but works closely with customers on options: wait, return to origin, or reroute.

6. Threats and the Safety of Seafarers

[13:27 – 14:22]

• Major concern: risk of drone attacks, as demonstrated in the Red Sea.
• Maersk ships now stay at sea rather than in ports due to targeting of harbors.
  • “In this war, ports have been targeted as a strategic asset… harbor is actually less safe than staying at sea.” – Vincent Clerc [14:45]
• Saudi authorities assisting in supplying ships and rotating crew.

7. Oil Prices, Supply, and Downstream Costs

[15:48 – 17:52]

• Surging oil prices and logistical shortages raise freight costs by 15–20%.
  • “Anything from a 15 to a 20% increase on some of the freight cost.” – Vincent Clerc [19:10]
• Rising costs are being passed on to customers and, ultimately, to global consumers.

8. Comparisons to Past Crises

[18:14]

• Unlike during COVID, the current issue is regional dislocation and high cost, not outright global shortage—yet.

9. Military Escorts and Diplomatic Solutions

[19:29 – 22:48]

• US and French proposals for naval escorts are seen as helpful for temporary, safe passage, but not a permanent solution.
• Maersk would only proceed if crew safety can be assured.
  • “We will only take them up on that if we feel that we’re not putting them at risk… the shield that navies can provide is sufficiently strong.” – Vincent Clerc [20:42]
• Naval protection is resource-intensive and may not be sustainable for the volume of trade passing the Strait.
• Long-term: peace and restored freedom of navigation requires a diplomatic deal between warring sides.
  • “Ultimately we need to get back to something where freedom of navigation and peaceful navigation is restored. And that will depend on some kind of deal between the two sides in that war.” – Vincent Clerc [22:48]

10. Restoration of Trade and Navigation

[23:34 – 24:46]

• Even if fighting stops, confidence to resume shipping will depend on proven intent from all sides to guarantee safe passage and end attacks.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the root cause and solution:

  “Ultimately we need to get back to something where freedom of navigation and peaceful navigation is restored. And that will depend on some kind of deal between the two sides in that war.”
  — Vincent Clerc [02:48, 22:48]

• On the scale and severity of the disruption:

  “For the first time in a very long time, at least in living memory, the Strait of Hormuz is closed.”
  — Vincent Clerc [04:14]

• On customer communications:

  “There’s a lot of perishable goods, foodstuff, that absolutely needs to move or risks getting spoiled. So you go into a lot of the contingency.”
  — Vincent Clerc [04:55]

• On security threats:

  “You don’t need very sophisticated naval capabilities… sufficient drones can overwhelm the defense.”
  — Vincent Clerc [13:45]

• On crew safety:

  “As long as there are significant drone capabilities, no assurance of a truce, then it’s very hard for us to put our colleagues and our ship in harm’s way.”
  — Vincent Clerc [13:45]

• On rising costs:

  “Any estimate that I give you here, you have to take with a pinch of salt… anything from a 15 to a 20% increase on some of the freight cost.”
  — Vincent Clerc [19:10]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:30] — Three waves of Maersk’s crisis response
• [06:20 – 07:39] — Supply chain disruptions from Suez/Red Sea closure
• [08:46] — Land bridge alternatives and their limitations
• [13:27 – 14:22] — Risks to ships and crews from attacks
• [15:48 – 17:52] — Oil price surge and effect on costs
• [19:29 – 22:48] — Role and feasibility of military escorts
• [22:48 – 23:34] — Need for a political solution and return to free passage

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Conclusion

Vincent Clerc provides a candid, sobering assessment of how conflict-driven closure of crucial shipping lanes is upending the global supply chain, with especially acute risks and costs for the Gulf region and a strong potential for ripple effects worldwide. While military solutions such as naval escorts may offer temporary relief, only an enduring diplomatic resolution can guarantee the restoration of free, peaceful navigation — the true lifeblood of global trade.

---

For listeners seeking the pulse of global logistics, this episode offers an authoritative, inside look at crisis management on the high seas, the challenges of redirecting global trade, and the vulnerabilities of our interconnected economies.

Transcript

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[Jonathan Josephs]

Hello, I'm Jonathan Josephs, BBC business reporter and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. The best conversations coming out of the BBC people shaping our world from all over the world.

[Interviewer]

If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention.

[Vincent Klerk]

We have never seen a people so united. Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. We're more popular than populism.

[Jonathan Josephs]

For this interview I spoke to Vincent Clerk, the the chief executive of Maersk. He is head of the world's second largest shipping company. At a time of war in the Middle east, the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel has led to the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, about a fifth of global oil supplies travelled through the route. Cargo ships are being attacked and seafarers killed. At the same time, the world's biggest shipping lines are also avoiding passage through another crucial Middle Eastern waterway because of linked security threats. The passage through the Red Sea and Suez Canal carried about 12% of all global trade when it was trouble free. The economic shockwaves all this is causing have governments around the world scrambling to limit the damage. As the war continues, you're going to hear about the disruption to global trade supply chains and energy flows, as well as proposals from governments, including the United States and France, to provide naval escorts to open the waterways.

[Vincent Klerk]

Again, if this is extremely effective and the US and other nations are willing to commit assets for the long run, it can be a solution that can work for a longer period. I have personally a hard time seeing, though, that this is the permanent solution to the situation, because the traffic is very important, the strait is very narrow. But ultimately we need to get back to something where freedom of navigation and peaceful navigation is restored. And that will depend on some kind of deal between the two sides in that war.

[Jonathan Josephs]

Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Vincent Clerk, the chief executive of Maersk.

[Vincent Klerk]

There's no doubt that the last 10 days have had a profound impact on our business. And I can break it down in three waves. The first one obviously started already on Saturday when we realized that this war had started and that the first response from Iran started to land in different places in the Middle East. And it was about securing our colleagues, securing our assets, securing our facilities across the region. We have around 6,000 colleagues living in the Gulf and Israel, and we also have 10 ships that were stuck in the upper Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz locked down. So we had to find what were the best solutions for our organization and for all of our assets in the area. The second wave, of course, is with the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, was to figure out what is all the cargo in transit, what is going to happen to it? How are we going to deal with what promises to pile up ahead of being able to come into the Gulf? Because all the ships continue to sail and they make it to a port near the Strait of Hormuz and have to drop the cargo somewhere so that they can move on. They can't just stay and wait. And we do about 40,000 containers in and out of the Gulf every week. So this is going to pile up very fast. And there is very limited areas where you can stage that much cargo. You get a lot of questions from customers about what's going to happen with their cargo. You have a lot of perishable goods, foodstuff that absolutely needs to move or risks getting spoiled. So you go into a lot of the contingency. And this led ultimately to us having to stop acceptance until the strait opens again because of the limited capacity, we have to actually stage the cargo en route to its final destination. And then the third wave, we're looking at the third one. And is that for the first time in a very long time, at least in living memory, the Strait of Hormuz is closed. And it means that we are seeing important dislocation in the energy markets. And we are obviously an energy intensive industry. We need a lot of oil to power our network. And we're starting to see important dislocation across the globe, with facilities in the Middle east and in the Far east having some constraint looming about availability of fuel, and also what it's going to cost to move fuel from areas where it's still plentiful in Europe and in the United States towards Asia and the Middle east, where we risk not having enough to power the networks.

[Interviewer]

And it's not just the Strait of Hormuz that's been disrupted where cargo vessels are no longer flowing. It's also the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal. Arguably, that's even more important. It's just a few weeks since you resumed shipping that way after a two year absence. How disruptive is that to supply chains beyond the Middle east as well?

[Vincent Klerk]

Yes, as you rightfully say, a normalization process with the return of some of the shipping lanes through the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal had started again in December. And this has been, of course, has had to be reversed for safety reason. This is maybe less disruptive in the short run because a lot of the network was still sailing around the Cape of Good Hope and around Africa to come to Europe or go to the east coast of the US but still this is setting an important pause or even setting this in a reversal trajectory. And I think it will take quite a while for things to reopen and for things to normalize again in the Red Sea.

[Interviewer]

So how disruptive is that though, to supply chains around the world when goods are having to take that longer route round the Cape of Good Hope instead of going through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea?

[Vincent Klerk]

I mean, obviously this going back and forth between the Red Sea and Suez is extremely disruptive for many customers because ships take longer time to arrive to port, meaning that suddenly for a few weeks you don't have a ship coming because it took a different route and it's longer. And so our customers don't get their weekly injection of goods in their distribution centers. So this can have some important impact on the ability to supply their different products to their different customers timely and without interruption. So this is something that we're taking very seriously.

[Interviewer]

But I think an impact you're already seeing, though, some of your customers already saying to you, we need our goods, we need to get stuff moving.

[Vincent Klerk]

I think this is mostly the case in the Middle east so far, because it has shut down this. This is an area that is heavily reliant on import of foodstuff to feed the population. And having suddenly ports being closed both on the Red Sea and the Hormu Strait is creating a lot of logistical challenges to keep the food moving into these areas and make sure that it continues to be on the shelves of supermarkets around the region.

[Interviewer]

Are you concerned that there will be shortages of some goods in parts of the Middle east, perhaps those inside the Gulf? If we think about Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, for example, we've seen a fantastic

[Vincent Klerk]

reaction, especially in Saudi Arabia, with opening land bridge between the ports of Jeddah and the different areas of the eastern provinces, and also Qatar, Bahrain and the uae. We also see some trucking increasingly from Oman into the uae. And I think all our focus right now is on making sure that the cargo flows and arrives at this destination so that we don't get into a shortage situation.

[Interviewer]

How feasible is this land bridge situation though? Is it really a long term solution? Is the capacity there to be able to replace what you've been doing by sea for all this time?

[Vincent Klerk]

No, I think it's very important to say that the capacity is sufficient so that we can prioritize the most important goods, the ones that really need to keep on flowing, and that we can do. But for a lot of the industrial production, for a lot of exports from petrochemicals and so on coming out of the Gulf, this is going to have to take a back seat for a while as we focus the capacity that we have on what is most urgent.

[Interviewer]

Petrochemicals, though arguably very urgent for lots of businesses in other parts of the world. How long do you think it's going to be until that situation resolves itself? And so we see oil tankers and others moving through the Strait.

[Vincent Klerk]

Again, that's the real important questions right now. Obviously, as you rightfully say, what is very important in week one and can take the backseat in week one is not necessarily true if you move yourself five weeks or ten weeks down the road, because suddenly what was a bit less important at the beginning is going to have increasingly importance because it's going to start causing ripple effects and disruptions around different parts of the supply chains in other regions. So that is something that we're obviously monitoring very, very closely for now. I think that we have the situation more or less under control, but nobody knows how long and how many days or weeks it's going to take until the Strait of Hormuz opens again. And when Cargo starts to flow again normally. So this is something that continues to be a very, very dynamic situation.

[Interviewer]

Some of your rivals have said that they are stopping cargo short of its final destination and returning it to the owners there and then is that something you've had to do as well? Are you having to abandon cargo in destinations that it's not intended for? And what sort of disruption might that cause to global shipping?

[Vincent Klerk]

We have not done the same, but we are in heavy discussions with our customers, seeing if they want to actually have it staged somewhere, waiting for things to reopen, if they want to have it returned to their point of origin because they might want to ship it elsewhere, or if they have other customers in other regions that could take on these goods and then we would move them to that new destination. So all of that is quite intense right now. Has been a lot of colleagues involved for the last week into reaching out to our customers to sort this out. And this is still something that is actually in the process of taking place because some of the cargo is just en route. It just left either China or the US or Europe just a couple of days before the situation or the war started. And as we are today, it will be on the water still for a couple of weeks where we have to find solutions for what is going to happen to this cargo.

[Jonathan Josephs]

You're listening to the interview from the BBC World Service.

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[Jonathan Josephs]

I spoke to Vincent Klerk on a line from his company's headquarters overlooking the historic harbour of the Danish capital Copenhagen. He's been at Maersk for more than 20 years so has seen global shipping disrupted before, notably by the COVID pandemic and Ukraine war, as well as the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea linked to the Hamas Israel conflict. He knows how vulnerable these massive, slow moving container ships can be and he told me about the efforts his company is making to reassure both his crews and customers around the world. It was striking to hear how the fallout from events in Iran and the surrounding region is so quickly being felt around the world. The role shipping plays in keeping the global economy flowing is often overlooked, but it's one of the first places disruption is being seen. Okay, let's return to my conversation with Vincent Clerk.

[Interviewer]

Just lay out the dangers for us. If some of your ships did try to navigate these passages, the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea route, what is it that you are concerned about?

[Vincent Klerk]

You know, with the experience that we have had in the Red Sea with the attack by drones from the Houthis towards international transits there, we have learned an important lesson, which is that you don't need very sophisticated naval capabilities. You need to have sufficient drones that you can try to overwhelm the defense that those ships can have from the escorts that they might have. And so for us, the concern, the main concern is the safety of our crews, is the safety of our assets. And as long as there are significant drone capabilities, no assurance of a truce, then it's very hard for us to put our colleagues and our ship in harm's way and risk having an attack be successful and create damage or loss of life in the process.

[Interviewer]

We know from the International Maritime Organization that at least seven seafarers have been killed in the region already. You've got 10 vessels stuck in the Gulf. They're sitting targets. What are you doing to protect them and to look after your crews that are on board?

[Vincent Klerk]

That is a very important question for us. Normally when you have a situation like this, you direct your ships to go to a safe harbor. Unfortunately, in this war, ports have been targeted as a strategic asset as part of the war effort, and therefore the harbor is actually less safe than staying in the sea. And so today our ships are actually in the middle of the sea because this is for now the safest place for them to be. But we are consistently monitoring also how the situation evolves, where they should go, where they should move. Is there a place that would be safe for them to be and can direct them on that? We also have fantastic support from the Saudi authorities with respect to bringing them supplies food whenever needed, if some of the seafarers need to check out or come on board those ships that they can shuttle them back and forth. And this is actually working really well and has been very quick to come into place. But it is a very, very dynamic and uncomfortable situation we're in. And we truly hope that we're going to find a good solution for this, for the crisis at large, but also specifically for our ships as soon as possible.

[Interviewer]

Vincent, one of the big fallouts from this conflict in Iran and the wider region has been a surge in oil prices. It's certainly on the mind of President Trump and a lot of people around the world. Just explain what is the impact for Maersk as a company, and do you have to pass on extra charges to your customers? And does that ultimately end up with being paid by the consumers who are buying the goods that are on those ships of yours?

[Vincent Klerk]

Yes. So I would break this into two buckets of cost. One is the cost of the fuel itself, which has, as you mentioned, shot up as a result of the war. This we have traditional contracting mechanism that pass on this fuel fluctuation, whether they go up or they go down onto the customers. So what it means is that ultimately in this case, these increases will pass to our customers and will pass on to the consumers. But on top of that, we have key dislocations today because the oil market is not just a global market. Actually, the oil from the Gulf is primarily distributed in the Middle east and the Asian Rim. And what you're seeing is already appear some concerns about levels of inventory in places in the Far east, in South Asia and in the Middle east, where we're having some concerns for weeks down the road being simply able to get the fuel that we need, irrespective of the price, because there is enough fuel in the world, but not necessarily always in the same places. And what we need now to step in and doing is actually move some of that fuel from the areas where it's still plentiful, like the Gulf in the US or even in some of the reserves in Europe, and move it towards some of the ports where we're going to need some inventory to replenish our network. And that is actually another bucket of cost. Prices for moving oil around the world have shot up dramatically over the last 10 days. But it's something that will need to happen or we risk having shortages in areas which would be extremely detrimental to the global supply chain and to the safety of the stocks of our customers for how they want to move their goods around. The world.

[Interviewer]

If the oil isn't in the right places for you to be able to fuel your ships and get goods moving, whether it's from Asia to Europe or from America to Asia, how is that going to impact you? Are you going to end up in a place where supply chains are disrupted in a similar way to what we saw during the COVID crisis?

[Vincent Klerk]

I think we're pretty far from a situation that looks like Covid, because you would need to go from having a need to move a lot of fuel around in order for supply to meet demand in the different areas of the world, into having a global shortage, where actually supply is falling way short of demand at a global level. And that would have, if it happened, very, very negative impact. But we are still very far away from that situation. And as we see the situation today, the remedies exist, but they are extremely costly. And we're taking steps to actually put these remedies in place so that we don't get in a situation similar to what we had in Covid. But it is something that here, too, will have to be passed on to customers because those costs are significant and it's not something that we can simply absorb.

[Interviewer]

Can you put a number on the extra costs that you're having to pass on? What's the percentage increase in the cost of global shipping? If we look across the board?

[Vincent Klerk]

Yeah. So I think the situation is obviously moving extremely fast. So any estimate that I give you here, you have to take with a pinch of salt, because these numbers can move a lot between even today and tomorrow or a couple of days down the road. But our assessment today, it's anything from a 15 to a 20% increase on some of the freight cost.

[Interviewer]

Another option that's being discussed by Presidents Trump and President Macron is, is the idea that there could be some kind of Navy escort to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz and perhaps even the Red Sea. Is that something you would welcome? Do you think it's even a feasible idea?

[Vincent Klerk]

So I'm not. I'm not a military person, so I don't know how feasible it is, but I think this is a possibility. Certainly that would. That would contribute to opening up trade again. We would need, I guess, significant, significant escorts and significant capacity from the Navy in order to guarantee safety through the Strait of Hormuz. But if that protection was effective and allowed us to transit safely, then of course, this would be at least a temporary reprieve that would allow us to move ships and cargo in and out of the Gulf for as Long as that protection is effective.

[Interviewer]

But what is it you would need to hear from these governments about a navy escort that would make you happy to put your crews at risk? Because they would still be at somewhat of a risk. And you told me that that's a priority for you to keep those people safe, obviously.

[Vincent Klerk]

And we will only take them up on that if we feel that we're not putting them at risk, but we feel that the shield that the navies can provide is sufficiently strong, that this is providing the level of safety that we feel is responsible for our assets and for our colleagues. But I think, you know, we need to look at what are the capabilities again, we would need to look at what they can put in place, what are the type of guarantees they can put, what type of systems can they put in place and intensity they can put in place to protect these sailing routes, and then we'll have to take it from there. Without knowing what the solution is, it's very difficult for me to deal on the hypothetical, but what I can say is whether this has a diplomatic solution or military solution. We are eager to see the Strait of Hormuz reopen. We are eager to having free traffic and freedom of navigation restored. But it will have to be with a safety first in mind and something that I think is going to be important for us and is going to be important, frankly, for all the vessel owners that are concerned by this situation.

[Interviewer]

But is it feasible? Have you had any conversations yet with the US or any other government about what this sort of solution would look like?

[Vincent Klerk]

What we have seen in connection with the Red Sea is that protection is possible, but you need a significant amount of resources. The Strait of Hormuz is more than 30 kilometers long. You're very close from the Iranian coastline, so you don't have a lot of time to react. So you would need a significant presence from the Navy to be able to provide a shield all the way through. And provided that this is being met, I'm not the one who is going to have to assess it. A lot of it is going to rest on the expertise of the people from the French Navy, the US Navy, or any of the navies that will be involved into. Into creating that shield, we'll have to assess. Then if we feel that we can sign up for it and move our ships through.

[Interviewer]

Do you think it's a solution that would just do to get out the ships that are stuck in the Gulf, or is it something that could potentially be used on an ongoing basis to keep traffic moving both ways again?

[Vincent Klerk]

It will depend on how effective and safe this is. If this is extremely effective, obviously, and the US and other nations are willing to commit assets for the long run, it can be a solution that can work for a longer period. I have personally a hard time seeing though that this is the permanent solution to the situation because the traffic is very important, the strait is very narrow, and it seems like something that can provide temporary relief, maybe a long temporary relief, but that ultimately we need to get back to something where freedom of navigation and peaceful navigation is restored. And that will depend on some kind of deal between the two sides in that war.

[Interviewer]

So even if the fighting stopped tomorrow, would that be enough for you to feel happy that the risk is has gone away sufficiently to move your ships through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea? Because if we look back to what happened after the 7 October attacks, it took a long time for you to feel comfortable using the Red Sea route again after you stopped.

[Vincent Klerk]

Yeah, I think that what is very difficult to assess here is what I mean. The capabilities. They have them. We can see those drones flying every day and they will probably continue to have those capabilities available. If not plentiful, at least they will have some. What is important to figure out is whether they have intent and if a truce was to be accompanied by a truthful intent on their side to leave international navigation alone, then that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz fairly fast. But of course, if there is no intent behind, we're back into having a military situation as a temporary one until we can get to something where where the respect of freedom of navigation is reinstated and there is no intent from the Iranian side to attack the ships in transit.

[Jonathan Josephs]

Thank you for listening to the interview with me, Jonathan Josephs. For more compelling conversations, search for the interview. Wherever you get your BBC podcast, you'll find episodes with Majin Takaravanci, Iran's Deputy for Foreign Minister, and Jamie Dimon, Chief Executive of Wall Street Bank, JP Morgan Chase, plus many others. Until the next time. Bye for now.

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