Odesa-based cargo analytical and consulting firm, Informall BG, has released the results of its study into a key Russian container port on the Black Sea to analyse the influence of the war in Ukraine.
Maritime Executive reported that the results suggest that Russian container traffic has declined, but not by much, and some carriers are increasing their market share.
Novorossiysk Port, located on the East side of the Black Sea, is connected by rail and highways to the main population and industrial centers of Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asian states. The port is one of the biggest cargo hubs in Russia, serving the entire country and handling international exports. The port has four container terminals, including an inland terminal, previously owned and operated by Maersk’s APM Terminals until its recent divestment.
The study found that total Russian container volume on the Black Sea had decreased by 7.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2022, while laden volume had dropped by 11.1 percent. Some global shipping lines rapidly have decreased their activities since March 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other global firms, such as Maersk, exedit the Russian container market, suspending bookings fully or restricted activity to certain categories of goods.
“Most of the global shipping lines present in the port of Novorossiysk announced a booking suspension to and from the Russian ports in the first week of March, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. The list of companies includes (but is not limited to) MSC, Maersk, ZIM, Hapag Lloyd, CMA CGM, ONE, Evergreen and Yang Ming. However, only a few actually suspended their activities in Novorossiysk,” Maritime executive reported.
Maersk Line halted its bookings to and from Russia immediately after the invasion, but contined to evacuate liner-owned empty containers from Russian ports. Many other global firms continued to serve Russian container ports, while adapting to the sanctions.
MSC, which handled 22.2 percent of the total container turnover of the port in January, announced on March 1 that it would stop taking bookings for Russian cargo with the expection of “essential goods such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian goods.”
MSC went on to increase its market share in Novorossiysk during the first half of 2022.
“While Russian container volume on the Black Sea has been shrinking since the beginning of war, Informall’s numbers suggest that MSC gained 7.5 percent of total container turnover in Novorossiysk, accommodating now almost a quarter (24.6 percent) of all Russian container shipments on the Black Sea in H1 2022,” the publication reported.
Regional and niche scale carriers have also benefited from the decreased activities of global shipping lines such as Maersk, ZIM, COSCO, Evergreen, ONE, Yang Ming and OOCL. Admiral, Arkas and Akkon shipping lines grew their presence in the Port of Novorossiysk since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, after the larger shipping lines exited the container market.
