Le Monde: ‘World shipping suffers the consequences of the war in Ukraine‘
Image of the port of Constanta, Romania, one of the largest in the Black Sea. Photo: Chloe Sharrock / Myop pour Le Monde
Following Risk Intelligence’s briefing on Russia’s war in Ukraine, journalist Julien Bouissou interviewed Risk Intelligence’s PortRisk Manager, Ian Wilkinson, who shared perspectives on the long-term impact on maritime operations of the current conflict.
16 March 2022
Considering the maritime implications of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, journalist Julien Bouissou dived deeper into the consequences suffered by the shipping industry in this feature from ‘Le Monde‘. The article opens with a look at the ships and crews that have found themselves in the proximity of the conflict, and the direct risks concerning them.
While different organisations are analysing how to ensure the safeness of the sailors and boats stranded in the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov, there are still the challenges repatriating the Russians and Ukrainians. In addition, our colleague Ian Wilkinson pointed out that after the end of the conflict the ships will have to be assured that here will not be any danger hidden underwater, like mines.
On the other hand, the article looks at how shipping companies are affected in terms of their employees, which either operate in Russia and Ukraine and are not able to receive their salaries due to the Western sanctions; or the personnel from the both countries that is hard to be replaced.
However, at the end of the day, Russia is not the only country affected when analysing the impact on trade. The Northern European ports end up with goods piling up as they can not make it to their final destination, traffic is slowed down in the ports of Turkey and Romania because of customs inspections and the maritime freight prices will probably face “increasing volatility" according to Mrs. Fribourg, director of sea freight at Bolloré Logistics.
Read the full article in French here.