Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Thursday that its chief executive, Nils Smedegaard Andersen, had undergone surgery to fix a heart problem as planned, Reuters reports. A.P. Moller-Maersk, whose Maersk Line is the world's biggest container shipping company, had announced on March 26 that Andersen's sick leave would be extended by six to eight weeks pending a new operation.
Andersen, 53, has been away from the job since the end of December when he was admitted to hospital in Switzerland and underwent an operation for a leaky heart valve.
In his absence, the Maersk group is being run by the executive board, whose members report directly to Chairman of the Board, Michael Pram Rasmussen.