A non-Dane has been appointed to one of the most senior positions at AP Møller-Maersk, in the latest sign of how radically Denmark’s biggest company is changing under Nils Andersen, the company’s first externally appointed chief executive.

Trond Westlie, a Norwegian, will take over as chief financial officer on January 1, following Soren Thorup Sorensen’s resignation in May. Mr Westlie will be the first non-Dane since the second world war in a senior position at the company, which owns Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping line, a major oil production arm and multiple other shipping businesses.