In view of the ongoing actions of war in Ukraine, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) commented on the current and potential impact on its affected business activities.
According to Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, the temporary closure of the terminal in the Port of Odessa has not impaired HHLA’s business activities significantly.
We are operationally stable enough to meet our customers’ requirements both at our terminals in Hamburg, Tallinn and Trieste and by rail
However, the Container Terminal Odessa (CTO) was closed with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The approx. 480 employees on site were sent home and the “continuation of the operations cannot be predicted at present due to the ongoing hostilities.”
HHLA has also secured the CTO against political risks by taking out federal guarantees for direct investments abroad. These cover a significant portion of the CTO’s current assets in case of war or expropriation and in the event of a breach of legally binding commitments by government or government-controlled entities.
In addition, measures to implement the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against Russia also took effect at HHLA’s container terminals in Hamburg on 1 March 2022. Since 1 March 2022, no containers coming from or destined for Russia will be handled.
This also applies to cargo transported by rail, barge or truck. HHLA is thus following the example of terminal operators in other European ports and responding to the consequences of implementing the sanctions decided at European level in global supply chains. The situation remains dynamic and will be adjusted accordingly as the market situation changes.
In addition, analyzing how Port of Rotterdam was affected by the war, it noted that the extensive import of energy is not (yet) affected by sanctions, but the export and transhipment of containers in particular suffers from the uncertainty caused by the conflict and the sanctions.
