In a further sign that Russia’s intensified rocket campaign against Ukrainian ports has not visibly affected the country’s seaborne trade, Maersk announced a new container service into Ukraine, according to local press reports.
The first vessel operating under the new line left Port Said, Egypt on Thursday and will arrive at Chornomorsk on 22 October, Ukrainian news portal Dumskaya said.
“This is a significant step in increasing the level of interaction and efficiency for our esteemed customers in the Ukrainian market,” Dumskaya quoted Maersk’s Ukraine office as saying in a message to clients.
An AP Moller-Maersk spokesman contacted by TradeWinds declined to comment on the report.
It is not clear if the new service would come in addition to or as a replacement for the existing Maersk service, which — according to Dumskaya — operates four feeder container ships between Chornomorsk and Constanta, Romania.
Concerns about Ukraine’s seaborne trade have intensified since last month, when Moscow started stepping up attacks against the country’s ports — occasionally even directly targeting ships serving the trade.
Even though insurance premiums have increased and more vessels seem to be switching their AIS signals off when in Ukrainian waters, seaborne trade does not appear to have been visibly affected.
The owner of one of the ships hit by Russia this month told TradeWinds that he would continue sending vessels there.
Hapag-Lloyd, another big liner that began trading containers in Ukraine last year — though not on its owned vessels — told TradeWinds last week it had no intention of discontinuing.
A spokesperson for German port operator HHLA also told TradeWinds that its container terminal in Odesa remains “fully operational on both land and seaside and has not been affected by the latest attacks”.
There are reports of considerable damage on other facilities nearby, however, including Ukraine’s state-owned Chornomorsk seaport, managers of which did not respond to a request for comment.
