Maersk calls at Russian ports to pick up 50,000 stranded containers

Shipping group Maersk still has ships calling at Russian ports to deliver containers booked before the Ukraine invasion began and to pick up some 50,000 containers stranded in Russia, the firm’s chief executive, Soren Skou, said.

The company has temporarily stopped booking new containers to and from Russiaas a consequence of what the kremlin names a “special military operation” to the bloody invasion Ukraine.

“We currently have about 50,000 of our containers in Russia. Most of them are empty, they are our property”Skou said. “We need them and we are very reluctant to leave them in Russia. For this reason, we still have some calls in Russian ports”.

Maersk it was also trying to get the containers out of Russia by rail, a spokesman said.

It is unlikely that Maersk will be able to deliver all the reserved containers in Russia before the invasion began Ukrainedue to bottlenecks in Russian ports.

Last year, the company generated about 2.5% of its total revenue in Russia. It operates container transport routes to St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad at Baltic Sea, Novorossiisk at Black Seaalready Vladivostok and Vostochny on the east coast of Russia.

Maersk, which has operated in Russia since 1992, said last week that it would sell all of its assets in the country, including its 30.75% stake in Russian port operator Global Ports Investments, whose shareholders include Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom and the Russian businessman Sergey Shiskarev.

“Russia has been a large and important market for Maersk for many years. However, we naturally cannot continue to operate critical infrastructure in Russia as if nothing had happened.”Skou said.

“We may not be able to do business in Russia again for many years. This is a price that we are willing to pay and that we can pay.”he added.