Maersk considers suspending all shipments to Russia

Shipping group Maersk said on Monday it was considering suspending all container bookings in and out of Russia in response to Western sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

The company said it was closely monitoring the fast-evolving sanctions and restrictions imposed against Russia, and making preparations to comply with them.

"Our preparations include a possible suspension of Maersk bookings to and from Russia on ocean and inland," Maersk said in a statement.

Maersk, has been active in Russia since 1992. It 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 said last week it had halted all port calls in Ukraine until the end of February and has shut its main office in Odessa on the Black Sea coast.