Continuing losses in the flagship container shipping division of AP Moller-Maersk were more than offset by surging oil and gas production profits, doubling first-quarter profits at the Danish group.

The container division at the diversified group was hit by 18 per cent falls in volumes on trans-Pacific trade between Asia and North America after the group's Maersk Line, the world's biggest container carrier, cut capacity by 30 per cent to stem losses caused by the US economic slowdown.