Danes throws a pensions lifeline

DANISH-owned shipping giant Maersk has thrown a lifeline to British workers facing poverty in retirement by promising to make good a multi-million pound shortfall in its UK pension fund.

Industry experts said the action by Maersk will set a precedent, making it harder for other employers to flout their moral obligations and walk away from pension promises.

The Maersk case became a symbol of the pension windups scandal that has ruined the retirement plans of more than 60,000 employees at firms across the country.

As the Mail revealed last autumn, Maersk planned to axe its UK Sea-Land final salary scheme, stripping 200 staff of up to 60% of their expected nest eggs.

Despite being part of a profitable group, bosses in Denmark refused to pay in the £3.5m needed to plug the black hole in the fund.

The law offered workers no protection because the scheme was meeting the government's Minimum Funding Requirement.