Suspension of traffic to Russia – humanitarian aid provided
Finnlines and its owner, the Grimaldi Group, have read some inaccurate articles in the press and therefore we would like to clarify the following.
Finnlines, like the Grimaldi Group, obeys all rules in force including Finnish flag rules, national laws, EU and international maritime laws. This also applies to sanctions, which are closely monitored and followed, and sanction lists are applied by Finnlines against all traffics, flags, firms and individuals indicated by the laws, and will continue to do so also in the future. Beside and beyond this obvious obedience, considering the growing concern about the international situation, Finnlines decided to unilaterally interrupt its traffic to Russia on 9 March, although not directly having any imposition to do so by laws in force. Instead, Finnlines will not ban and/or penalize any other people, company or mean different than those who national and international authorities are indicating, as this would be against non-discrimination principle included in its code of conduct.
Finnlines and the Grimaldi Group through Finnlines used to run four services to Russia: from Spain, Belgium, UK and Germany. All of them were suspended in view of the current well-known international situation. Four ships are involved, all Finnish flagged with a total cargo capacity of 16,000 line metres, and they have all been re-assigned to other intra-EU services until further notice.
The last call of Finnlines vessels in Russia was performed on 7 March, and the suspension was announced on 9 March. The company prepared this step carefully, informing biggest customers involved in advance and planning with due anticipation in order to minimize risks and costs for all customers and stakeholders of the lines.
Humanitarian aid to Ukrainian citizens
Finnlines and the Grimaldi Group are concerned about the current crisis and are factually acting for relief of Ukrainian refugees. As from 3 March Finnlines has granted free transportation on its passenger-freight vessels to Ukrainians leaving their homeland due to the on-going war, as well as Grimaldi in the Mediterranean is cooperating in free transportation of hundreds of young Ukrainian children and families to hosting region in West Mediterranean. Both Finnlines and the Grimaldi Group companies are also granting several zero and near-to-zero seafreight transports to forwarders bringing aid to Ukrainian refugees in Eastern Europe.
The Grimaldi Foundation, led by the Grimaldi Shipowners, actively organized and supported rescuing and hosting initiatives (on landside), medical materials recollection in Naples for camps in Eastern Poland, and has given availability of apartments for accommodating dozens of refugees in Naples and Palermo. Due to the sudden nature of the crisis, the list of relief actions undertaken at the Grimaldi Group level is to date in constant updating and more funds have been earmarked for future actions.
For further information, please contact
For further information on Finnlines Group
Tom Pippingsköld
Vice President and Deputy CEO, CFO
phone +358 40 519 5041
tom.pippingskold@finnlines.com
For further information on Grimaldi Group
Grimaldi Group External Relations: Paul Kyprianou +39 081 496246 – +39 320 4076539 – kyprianou.paul@grimaldi.napoli.it
Press contact
Communications Department, communications@finnlines.com
Finnlines Plc
Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay. The Company is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of ro-ro vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.