The world’s largest shipping lines, along with mail carriers such as UPS Inc. and FedEx, have all cut services to Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
Shipping giants A.P. Moeller-Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company said Tuesday they are suspending container shipping to and from ports in Russia as worldwide sanctions ratchet up against the embattled Kremlin.
Maersk did say that it would allow bookings made prior to the announcement to carry on and that the suspension wouldn’t apply to shipments of food, medical, or humanitarian supplies.
“As the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions, new Maersk bookings within ocean and inland to and from Russia will be temporarily suspended,” the Dutch company said in a statement.
RUSSIA IN ‘TREMENDOUS FINANCIAL DISTRESS’ AS STOCK MARKETS SHUTTERED
MSC also said it would end all inbound and outbound cargo bookings in Russia beginning on Tuesday and that the suspension will cover “all access areas including Baltics, Black Sea, and Far East Russia.”
Russia is additionally feeling the shipment sting when it comes to mail.
UPS announced that it has suspended all international shipping services to and from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, which is a Russian ally on the border of Ukraine that has been serving as a launching pad for some of Russia’s forces.
“Packages in transit that cannot be delivered will be returned free of charge to the sender where possible,” UPS said in a service alert. “Our focus is on the safety of our people, providing continued service, and minimizing disruption to our customers. UPS continues to closely monitor the situation and will re-establish service as soon as it is practical and safe to do so.”
FedEx also said in a service alert that it was stopping all inbound shipments to Russia and all shipments coming in and out of Ukraine. The Tennessee-based company added that it is “closely monitoring the situation and have contingency plans in place.”
The suspensions come as the United States and Western allies work to choke Russia, under the control of strongman Vladimir Putin, off from the world economy in order to squeeze him into pulling troops out of war-torn Ukraine.
BP and Shell both announced that they are divesting their stakes in massive Russian oil companies because of the war, decisions that could result in losses worth billions of dollars.
BP announced that it would be exiting its 19.75% stake in Rosneft, accounting for about half of BP’s oil and gas reserves. Shell also said that it is exiting all its investments in Russian projects because of the invasion of Ukraine.
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The Russian central bank kept the Moscow Exchange closed on Monday after new tranches of punishing sanctions were unveiled over the weekend. Western powers restricted the Russian central bank from accessing a large share of its more than $600 billion in foreign currency reserves, which it would otherwise use to halt the ruble’s decline and constrain inflation.
Trading on the Russian stock exchange was closed again on Tuesday as many countries continue their new sanctions regime against the Kremlin. Officials will decide Wednesday morning whether to reopen then. The current pause is the longest such hold since 1998.
