Shipping Giants To Halt New Orders & Delivery Of Russian Shipments
The global manufacturing and transportation communities are extending efforts to distance themselves from Russia. On 1 March, the two leading shipping lines in the world, Maersk and MSC, announced that they would halt new shipments from and to Russia, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. On that day, Ford Motors also declared that it would be suspending Russian operations and not be participating in the Sollers-Ford venture.
On the other hand, CMA CGM also announced that it would no longer be accepting bookings for goods from Russia and would be suspending most of the deliveries to it. CMA CGM added that its priorities continue to ensure the protection of employees and see to the possible continuity of the supply chain. The move follows similar decisions made by Singapore-based Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Germany’s Hapag Lloyd.
Transport Majors Ship Out
On Tuesday, A.P. Møller-Maersk AS, a Danish shipping major, said that it would refrain from accepting new shipments from and to Russia. In its 1 March announcement, Maersk spoke about continuing to honour shipments made previously along with single-purpose shipments of humanitarian, medical, and food supplies.
Mediterranean Shipping Company, popular as MSC, also declared a temporary ban on cargo bookings from or those headed toward Russia, with an exception for essential commodities, and said that it would directly contact customers regarding any Russia-related cargo in transit.
While it also said the company’s priority is to minimize shipping disruptions, Maersk warned its customers in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium that they may encounter massive delays as the countries search Russian-bound vessels for any restricted commodities.
Russian authorities have introduced measures to ensure the fall of the financial markets and the ruble, including complete restrictions on money transfers and also shutting down the Moscow Stock Market. As a result, the ruble has dropped by almost 35 percent from last week when Vladimir Putin started the invasion.
Reference: aljazeera.com
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