Shipping group Maersk will temporarily halt all container shipping to
and from Russia in response to Western sanctions on Moscow following
its invasion of Ukraine, the company said on Tuesday.

The move follows similar decisions by Singapore-headquartered Ocean
Network Express (ONE), Germany''s Hapag Lloyd HLAG.DE and Swiss-based
shipping group MSC.

The suspension, covering all Russian ports, would not include
foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies, Maersk said.

"As the stability and safety of our operations is already being
directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions, new Maersk bookings
within ocean and inland to and from Russia will be temporarily
suspended," Maersk said in a statement.

The company operates container shipping routes to St Petersburg and
Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, Novorossiysk in the Black Sea, and to
Vladivostok and Vostochny on Russia''s east coast.

Maersk owns 31% of Russian port operator Global Ports GLPRq.L, which
operates six terminals in Russia and two in Finland. Global Ports''
shareholders also include Russian state nuclear company Rosatom and
Russian businessman Sergey Shiskarev.

"With Global Ports we are looking at how to comply with the ever
evolving sanctions and restrictions and preparing possible next
steps," Maersk said.

The Copenhagen-based company has around 500 employees in Russia. Last
week, it temporarily halted all port calls in Ukraine, where it has
some 60 employees in Odessa.