The largest container ship in the world finally leaves Russia

The Danish transport and logistics company AP Moeller-Maersk A/S completes the liquidation of its Russian business.

The world’s largest container carrier, with a fleet of nearly 800 ships, has reached an agreement on the sale of two logistics centers in Russia.

According to the company’s press service, regulatory authorities in Russia and the European Union have approved the sale of a warehouse in Novorossiysk with a capacity of 1,500 m2. containers and a warehouse for chilled and frozen products in St. Petersburg.

The transaction took place on February 17 and became part of Maersk’s exit strategy from the Russian market. In March, Maersk announced it was suspending shipments to Russia, and in August it sold its 30.75% stake in Global Ports Investments Plc to Russia’s largest container shipping operator Delo Group.

In addition, Maersk has exported around 50,000 of its containers from Russia, most of them empty. Now the Danish concern, which has 70 port terminals around the world, has only four tugboats left from its once numerous Russian assets.

In the February report, Maersk informed that the process of their sale is ongoing, and after its completion, business in the Russian Federation will be completely limited.

After Maersk, after the start of the war in Ukraine, Swiss-Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company, French CMA CGM and Japanese Ocean Network Express stopped shipping goods to Russia. This affected the turnover of the seaports of the Baltic Sea – in the past the main channel of trade with Europe. According to the results of the year, the cargo turnover of the port of St. Petersburg decreased by 37%, and in the Baltic Sea basin in general – by 3%.