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Maersk announced that aside from the suspension of shipments it earlier announced, the container line is also halting booking for reefers to and from Russia citing expectations of "significant delays" due to ever-evolving restrictions on the country.
On March 1, the Danish shipping line announced a temporary booking suspension for shipments to and from Russia but noted that the halt covering all Russian ports, would not include foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies.
However, the day after, the world's second biggest carrier said due to uncertainty over the sanctions imposed on Russia and "significant delays" in European ports for Russian bound shipments, Maersk has now decided to include reefers in the booking suspension.
"As the stability of our operations and our customers' cargo is critical, it is with great regret that we now also have to temporarily stop acceptance of all new reefer bookings (chilled and frozen) to/from St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad," Maersk said on March 2.
"The gateways in Novorossiysk and Far East Russia remain open at this present time."
The container line noted, however, that it is offering free change of destination and no cancellation fees on bookings to Russia and Ukraine.
Maersk earlier warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is already impacting the global supply chain.
"The delays are expected to have ripple effects across the regional ocean network, resulting in further delays and congestion," it said.
