Temporary restrictions are caused by the need to organize control of goods
Maersk has notified clients in Russia on potential resumption of bookings on a full scale. Authenticity of the notification shared via the Telegram channels has been confirmed by the company upon the request of IAA PortNews.
“After the USA and EU announced sanctions against Russia in connection with the military operation in Ukraine, Maersk faced the requirements set forth by the foreign authorities regulating control of goods moving to/from Russia.
Those requirements include checking of all shipping documents to reveal entities included in sanction lists among shippers/receivers as well as physical inspection of containers to reveal sanctioned goods or dual-use items.
Besides, we see a growing congestion of containers in Russian and foreign ports caused by suspension of shipments upon requests of clients who faced sharp currency exchange-rate fluctuations or restrictions on payments via sanctioned banks.
Under present circumstances and to prevent further uncontrolled congestion of cargo in Russian and foreign ports, the only right solution was to suspend accepting bookings for cargo transportation via Russian ports until normalization of operations under a stable schedule of our calls. The suspension does not cover foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.
Bookings placed and approved before the notification date will be serviced on a routine basis.
We hope for a fast resolution of the situation and resumption of bookings on a full scale. Temporary restrictions are in force at all types of transport”, said A.P.Moller-Maersk.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Donbass. The USA and other NATO and EU countries expressed disapproval of Russia’s actions. A package of sanctions has been imposed on Russia, its Central Bank, NWF, the Ministry of Finance, state banks and companies.
A.P. Moller-Maersk’s container shipping subsidiaries operate nearly 600 vessels with a total capacity of more than 2.6 million TEUs.
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