About 2.75% of the world’s commercial fleet face some sort of embargo because of the developing sanctions squeeze against Russia, maritime risk mitigation company, Windward, has found.
More specifically, this equates to at least 1 505 vessels that are exposed, in one form or another, to compromised operations with Russia because of its war against Ukraine.
In real terms it means 18 ships are directly targeted by ongoing efforts to turn the screws on Russia’s economy through conflict-related trade restrictions.
Helping the other 1 487 of the vessels with exposure to Russia to navigate the fast-changing shipping environment has spurred Windward into launching a platform where relevant predictive data is constantly posted.
The “sanctions solutions”, so termed by journalist Sam Chambers of Splash247, will help vessels plan according to the latest restrictions placed on Russia.
Windward CEO Ami Daniel told Chambers: “As the fog of the conflict and increased sanctions make conducting trade even more complex, we will continuously update our platform so our customers can continue to conduct business with confidence.”
The platform’s launch must come as welcome to news to 179 tankers and bulkers currently heading towards Russia.
In a rapidly altered war environment, maritime operators could do with a digital guide to trade restrictions as they play out on the ground.
Although 40 of these vessels making to their way to Russian ports are involved in transhipment trade in that country, 139 are from countries like Turkey, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Spain, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Germany, the US and Denmark, Chambers reports.
Maersk too has indicated that although it was one of the first lines to pull the proverbial plug on Russia, with the exclusion of humanitarian deliveries, its operations into and out of Russian waters for the time being continue.
The carrier said it’s still delivering containers that were booked prior to the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, and that a further 50 000 boxes await shipment out of Russia.
