HMM stops taking orders for freight to Russia

An HMM container ship [YONHAP]

HMM will suspend bookings on two shipping routes to and from Russia starting Monday because of low demand.

Bookings won't be taken for freight between Busan and Vostochny and Busan and Vladivostok. With the suspension, the company isn't taking any cargo transport orders to any Russian port.

One or two ships will sail to Russian ports to fulfill previous bookings. However, the exact dates or number of ships needed wasn't mentioned.

HMM has been operating one 1,700 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ship on the Vostochny route and a similar-sized ship for the Vladivostok route.

Demand has evaporated due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. HMM didn't specify a date when it will start taking bookings again.

Trade between Korea and Russia is mostly in electronic gadgets and car parts.

HMM operates ships with a combined capacity of 820,000 TEUs, and temporarily stopping the two Russian routes won't make a huge impact on it.

Major shipping companies around the world have stopped cargo shipments to Russia.

Geneva-based MSC temporarily stopped taking cargo bookings from and to Russia starting March 1, with the exception of essential goods such as food, medical equipment and humanitarian goods. Copenhagen-based shipping company Maersk is doing the same, with the same exceptions. Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd has suspended all shipments to and from Russia.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]