At the end of February, AP Moller-Maersk, an integrated container logistics company and member of the A.P. Moller Group, halted all purchases of Russian-origin oil.
According to the company’s CEO, Soren Skou, AP Moller-Maersk stopped the Russian bunker purchases. The CEO mentioned that Russia has been a large and important market for AP Moller-Maersk for many years.
On Monday 28 February we decided to stop all new bookings except food and medications to and from Russia, and at the same time we also globally stopped buying Russian oil for our ships.
…he continued.
It is possible that we will not go back to doing business in Russia for many years, but it is a price we both can, and are willing to pay
…Soren Skou concluded.
In the meantime, NATO and EU allies continue to make additions to the designated entities lists so all the members can ensure that they carry out careful examination and inspections using the updated lists.
It should be recalled that the economic sanctions targeting Russia continue to evolve and escalate with many being coordinated among the EU, UK, US, and their allies including sanctions against President Putin and the Central Bank of Russia. Standard Club’s experts Mrs. Ursula O’Donnell and Mrs. Gina Venezia provide a summary of some of the recent actions.
On 5 March 2022, the Singapore government imposed sanctions against Russia in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Also, International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) voted to expel the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping from their ranks.
It is also worth noting that the economic impact and the energy crisis resulting from the Russian-Ukraine war is overwhelming, impacting the shipping industry as well.
For this reason, many initiatives have been taken from various countries and governments to help the seafarers across the world, such as: INTERCARGO, IMO, UGS, Sailors’ Society etc.