In normal times, the port of Rotterdam is like a machine: hundreds of ships come and go every day, and tens of thousands of crates are loaded and unloaded from these ships to keep Europe's economy running.
At the moment, however, many containers are blocking the processes because of the sanctions against Russia. The crates, which are usually 20 or 40 feet long and destined for the country affected by the sanctions, all have to be carefully checked to ensure that their onward transport does not violate the sanctions in any way, says Allard Castelein, Managing Director of the Port of Rotterdam.
Several authorities are keeping a close eye on ships from Russia, and numerous container terminals and shipping companies have announced that they will no longer handle cargo for the sanctioned country following the invasion of Ukraine. Even before the invasion, global supply chains in general - and container shipping in particular - were barely coping with the chaos caused by Covid-19: Ships were pulled from their slots, and demand for goods boomed when the pandemic made many services unavailable. Of the thousands of parcels arriving with each incoming ship, several dozen or hundreds may be for Russia. These have to be separated and checked before they can be released. There are currently said to be 4,500 containers involved.
The Russian business is a significant part of the port's operations, as around 13 % of the approximately 470 million tonnes handled through the facility each year are destined for Russia. Of all the containers that pass through the port, 10 % are in some way linked to the country, which also exports raw materials such as steel, copper, aluminium and nickel via the Dutch hub. According to the port's website, around 30 % of Russian crude oil, 25 % of liquefied natural gas and 20 % of oil products and coal are currently imported via Rotterdam.
Source: Reuters / Megson / gcaptain
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