Danish container liner company Maersk has stated that it is temporarily unavailable to continue providing feeder services to Ukraine's Odesa Region via Chornomorsk Fishing Port (CHFP).
The company said that its service via CHFP is temporarily suspended until further notice. All import cargo originally planned for discharge at CHFP, will be redirected and discharged at Constanța, Romania, in accordance with Clause 20 – Matters Affecting Performance of the applicable bill of lading terms and conditions.
All import shipments with CHFP as the port of discharge, currently at or expected to arrive at Port Said, will also be redirected to Constanța.
Maersk added that, should Constanța not be an acceptable discharge location, customers are requested to submit a change of destination request.
For export bookings already placed via Chornomorsk, the following options have been offered: free booking cancellation (no cancellation fee/no amendment fee); and change of port of loading to Constanța for bookings with containers “in gate in status” while keeping the current ocean freight rate.
Maersk said that the temporary suspension was, "due to the current situation affecting [its] operating area," but did not provide any specifics.
Russian state news agency TASS has reported that the suspension of Maersk's feeder service to CHFP occurred at around the same time that Russian forces stepped up their attacks on Ukrainian ports believed to be used for the importation of military cargo.
Chornomorsk is one of Ukraine's largest ports, having been built to serve as a transshipment hub for bulk, breakbulk, general and liquid cargo. The port's warehouses have a combined storage capacity of approximately 1.5 million tons.
