1904: The Steamship Company Svendborg is founded by Captain Peter Mærsk-Møller and his son Arnold Peter Møller. The company's first ship was the British-built 2,200 tdw cargo steamer Svendborg.

1912: Steamship Company of 1912 is founded by A.P. Møller.

1918-1919: A.P. Møller builds his own shipyard, the Odense Staalskibsvaerft near the Odense Canal in the city of Odense. Keels are laid for the first two ships.

1962: The Danish government grants A.P. Møller a license to search for oil in the Danish part of the North Sea. At the time, almost nobody expects any oil to be found. A new oil company, Mærsk Olie og Gas A/S, is later founded.

1964: Dansk Supermarked A/S is founded.

A.P.Moller (upper) and the Ship Olga of Maersk Line- a subsidiary company of Maersk Group (source: internet)

1969: Maersk Air is founded and begins operations the following year.

1973: Mærsk Line adds its first container ship to the fleet, the Japanese-constructed Svendborg Mærsk (1,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU)).

31 January 1998: A.P. Møller Group acquires the Volkswerft in Stralsund (Germany) from the German Treuhand for 25 million dollars. The yard is completely modernized, including a large shipbuilding hall and a 230 m (now 275 m length) ship lift to launch the ships. Container ships (2,500 class) are produced for the Mærsk fleet. They have a size of 2,900-3,000 TEU. Supply vessels and cable-laying vessels are also produced.

February 1999: Mærsk takes control of the Safmarine container line, including the Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) with 50 owned and chartered container vessels.

30 June 2005: A.P. Møller-Mærsk agrees to sell Maersk Air to Fons Eignarhaldsfélag, Iceland.

2007: Maersk reached the total sales of 51.2 billion of dollars with the profit was at 3.42 billion of dollars.