A.P. Moller-Maersk's sick chief executive is to stay away from his desk for a further two months, leaving the company to tackle mounting losses in its main container shipping division without him.

The extended absence of Nils Smedegaard Andersen from the world's biggest container shipper follows heart surgery he underwent at the end of December. The company announced the extension of his leave of absence on Monday having said on Jan. 1 that the 53-year-old would be on leave for a month.

Chairman Michael Pram Rasmussen said the extension would not affect the planned roadshow to follow the group's fourth quarter results on Feb. 27 and would not affect the group's investment programs.

"There are no decisions, or types of decisions, which cannot be taken (in the absence of the CEO)," Rasmussen said in an email to Reuters.

"We want to have Nils S. Andersen onboard for the long term, and therefore it is the right decision for both Nils S. Andersen and A.P. Moller-Maersk, that he now focuses all his energy on convalescing," Rasmussen said.

In November, Maersk posted a steeper-than-forecast quarterly profits, hit by weak freight rates and after its container arm dived into the red.

The container shipping market and tanker markets are struggling with overcapacity, weak freight rates and high fuel costs. Freight rates reached a three-year low this month. (Reuters)