Due to military risks, logisticians advise to ship container cargo through European ports

Due to military risks and unstable operation of Ukrainian ports, logistics companies recommend sending container cargo through European ports.

This was told by the executive director of Marine Service Ukraine, Tetyana Shevchuk, in an interview with USM.

“Right now, we still recommend chartering to European ports,” she noted.

According to Shevchuk, Marine Service Ukraine mainly works with imported cargo, and the main destination for the company remains China. The specific route depends on the client’s needs, but most often the cargo is sent through Poland or Romania. In some cases, the ports of Greece are also used.

After the container arrives at the European port, the company organizes the land part of the transportation to Ukraine. The cargo can be delivered directly in the container or reloaded at the warehouse into a covered truck.

According to Shevchuk, in the current conditions, reloading often allows you to avoid additional costs associated with returning an empty container to the port.

“For example, if a container arrived in Gdynia, the line may require it to be returned empty back to Gdynia. And these are additional costs. Before the war, when Odesa and Chornomorsk were the main ports, everything was simpler: the container could be handed over in the same Ukrainian port,” she explained.

The war significantly changed the directions of cargo flows. If previously a significant part of Marine Service Ukraine’s cargo passed through Odessa and Chornomorsk, after the start of the full-scale invasion, the company works much more through European logistics.

The issue of demurrage, according to Shevchuk, depends on the line with which the container is chartered. Each line has its own free days: for some it is three days, for others it may be two weeks. These conditions are usually fixed and do not change automatically due to force majeure in Ukraine, because the lines operate according to the rules of other jurisdictions.

In Marine Service Ukraine, in such a case, the logistics department contacts the line, describes the circumstances and explains why there was a delay, and after that you can ask for either a discount or an extension of the free period. Companies often meet the requirements.

“Of course, they may not completely waive the demurrage, but it is possible to get a discount, and this is also part of our work: not just to organize delivery, but also to conduct such negotiations to minimize additional costs for the client,” shared Tetyana Shevchuk.

Earlier, USM reported that Turkey had proposed a new security mechanism in the Black Sea.