“As the stability and safety of our operations are already being directly and indirectly affected by the sanctions, new Maersk sea and land bookings to and from Russia will be temporarily suspended,” Copenhagen-based Maersk said on Tuesday.
Food, medical and humanitarian supplies are excluded. Maersk had already announced a booking freeze for Ukraine on Thursday.
The MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company also announced a temporary halt to all freight bookings to and from Russia in a notice to its customers on Tuesday, effective immediately. This includes all access areas including the Baltic States, the Black Sea and the Far East of Russia. “MSC will continue to accept and review bookings for the delivery of essential supplies such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian supplies,” it said.
MSC and Maersk are by far the two largest container shipping companies. Together they have a good third of the world’s transport capacity.
The German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also decided last week to temporarily freeze bookings for Russia and Ukraine.
Source: Nachrichten
