The Russian-Ukrainian war has lasted for nearly two years, and the "first deserter" has appeared among the European and American freight forwarding logistics companies that announced the suspension of Russian business
Blue Water Shipping, a veteran shipping and logistics company in Europe, announced:Logistics services through Russia will be restarted, and rail will be used again to cross Russia!
According to the latest information of One Shipping: a number of European ** reports said that Blue Water Shipping, a well-known European shipping and logistics company with a history of more than 50 years, recently announced that it will re-provide customers with freight train transportation services through Russia, and Russian railways are operated by the state.
In its report, the European Union noted that Blue Water Shipping had abandoned the "moral concerns" it had raised when it had previously suspended its service through Russia.
It is understood that after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022,For "moral" reasons, Blue Water Shipping decided in June of the same year to stop delivering goods through Russia.
At the time, Blue Water Shipping said: "Although there are no sanctions for shipping goods through Russia, we have made an ethical decision that we will not do it." Instead, we will look for alternative routes for the cargo. ”
However, after the attack on the Red Sea vessel caused delays in shipping from China to Europe, Blue Water Shipping has now reversed its stance and saidNow, the consideration of customer requirements has outpaced the ethical issue.
Jan Hjortlund Hansen, head of the company, said: "Shipping via Russia is not a solution that we usually offer, but we have found that some customers specifically request such a solution in terms of the chainEspecially due to the situation around the Red Sea, we are here to help with transportation in accordance with the applicable sanctions and restrictions
The problems in the Red Sea make it necessary for companies to look for several alternative routes to solve the current transportation needs. We only have a small number of requests for transit through Russia, but this may be the preferred solution for some customers, which is why we assist with solutions. ”
It is reported that as long as the train does not stop on the way through Russia, freight through Russia will not be subject to sanctions.
However, this approach has been criticized as unethical, as the railway network is operated by the country's state-owned company, Russian Railways.
Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) said Russian Railways was sanctioned by countries such as the European Union and the United States for its contribution to the delivery of war materials to Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.
Maersk and DSV urgently stated: No!
While Blue Water Shipping has restarted rail services across Russia, Danish logistics giants Maersk and DSV have notStill refusedProvision of transportation services via Russia to customers.
This route through Russia was especially used during the pandemic, when port congestion made it expensive to ship goods back home from China.
Now, a similar situation is happening, and three months after the attack by the Houthi movement in the Red Sea, shipping companies have had to bypass Africa to ship goods to Europe.
However, two of Denmark's largest logistics companies, Maersk and DSV, have chosen not to offer a solution for crossing Russia.
When we withdrew our operations in Russia, we stopped. We actually believe that doing business in Russia and shipping through Russia are the same issue," said Fleming Ole Nielsen, Head of Investor Relations at DSV.
He added that he did not have a specific example of a company actively requesting this service, but he was sure that this was the case.
This solution is actually good, but we don't think we're going to continue doing it. ”
maersk and dsv still say no！those two companies choose not to offer the solution.
At the same time, Maersk also said that the company's logistics operations do not use transportation through Russia.
In addition,Two of Blue Water's biggest competitors, Alpi and Leman Group, believe it is unethical to help businesses ship through Russia.
Morten H GSBERG Nielsen, general manager of Alpi Air &Sea, said that in the wake of the Red Sea crisis, several companies asked for this service.
However, for ethical reasons, they still refuse to provide transportation services through Russia, and as a result, they lose customers.
"I think it was an unethical decision to do it through Russia, although there was nothing wrong with it legally," Nielsen said. ”
Of course, you will not deposit money directly into the Russian Ministry of Finance, but into a Chinese company. But you close one eye because you don't know where the money went.
Rikke Ferrari Thomsen, Commercial Director of Leman Group, also said: "When Russia attacked Ukraine, we immediately decided to stop providing transport services from China via Russia. Since then, we have stuck with this decision and will not change. ”