Maersk has identified food, medical, and humanitarian supplies as those excluded from its decision to suspend all calls to Russian ports.
Yesterday’s announcement is said to be effective immediately, with the Danish line’s vessels avoiding berthing at major ports like Vladivostok, Saint Petersburg, Murmansk, Primorsk, Vostochny, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk as of today.
A precise time for the suspension was omitted, though, in yesterday’s announcement.
The decision to deliver essential goods to Russia was part of the line’s social responsibility policy, a spokesperson for the carrier said.
Yesterday’s announcement brings to three the number of leading lines that have decided to suspend port calls to Russia.
Hapag-Lloyd was the first last Thursday, the second day after Russia started shelling Ukraine.
Yesterday, Ocean Network Express followed suit, and moments after, news emerged that Maersk had decided to join the ports ban.
It remains to be seen what will be decided by MSC, the world’s biggest container line by capacity and fellow member of Maersk in the 2M shipping alliance.
Maersk said it had been a difficult decision to take and that a series of crisis meetings had finally resulted in the line henceforth omitting Russian ports.
The carrier said it now needed to consider the practical application of its decision, in keeping with its social responsibility commitments.
