A gray container hangs in the air at the terminal of the transhipment company the Kramer Group. The container is attached to a large, blue crane that protrudes tens of meters above the quay. The crane slowly moves towards the inland vessel that is waiting in the Hartelhaven of Rotterdam. With a slight swing, the container lands on top of the other containers on the ship.
From the crane you have a view of smaller cranes poking into the sky, the steam clouds from the power plant and also thousands of colored container blocks. At first glance, none of this seems exceptional for the port of Rotterdam. Yet here too the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are visible: 1,200 of the containers stored here were on their way to Russia, but have been stranded because of the sanctions against the country.
Containers with ‘dual-use goods’ (products that can be used for both civil and military purposes) and containers intended for Russians on the sanctions list are not allowed to continue. In order to guarantee the sanctions, the customs authorities carry out extra checks. About 90 ships depart from Rotterdam to Russia every month.
Resources for sanctioned goods
These checks take place a few kilometers away on the large port site, in a spacious shed. In a pre-selection, it is determined on the basis of the origin, destination and specified content of a container whether it will be physically checked, says a customs official, who is ‘answer of sanctions’ at customs. If there is uncertainty about an inspection, she will find out whether a container meets the requirements or not. Due to their safety, customs officers from the port of Rotterdam are not publicized by name.
On Tuesday, 300 containers were assessed as ‘violating sanctions’
For example, the ‘question point’ also checks a white container in the back of the warehouse, destination Russia. Using large clipping scissors, an employee in brown steel-toed boots cuts open the bottom of the container so she can view the contents. The sound of the sliding metal doors echoes in the largely empty space. The container contains cardboard boxes, packed in plastic. As stated, the boxes appear to be filled with sports equipment, such as riding boots and snow boots. “Not so exciting,” she says, holding up a pair of boots, looking inside, and putting it back in the box.
The sporty boots cannot be used for military purposes, according to the customs officer. What kind of goods do fall under ‘dual-use’? “Certain metals that are resistant to corrosive substances, such as valves or pipelines through which gases and liquids pass. Those liquids can be used as rocket fuel.” This is just one of many examples: the list of dual-use goods is two hundred pages.
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The sanctions mean extra checks, and therefore more work and long queues. Normally it is mainly checking for drugs, tobacco and money. There is now a laundry list of sanctions for a country at war. Customs officers are feeling the higher workload.
Containers blocked by customs will be returned to the terminal pending further investigation. At some terminals, this leads to a lack of space. With a storage capacity of 17 hectares (almost 24 football fields), terminal company Kramer Group has enough space, and therefore also stores containers from other companies that cannot continue. The 1,200 containers that are stuck there are not all blocked by customs, CEO André Kramer says, while tow trucks with containers drive back and forth. “Unblocked containers, which are allowed to continue after investigation, will also remain because many shipping companies no longer sail to Russia.” There is no question of a lack of space yet, says Kramer. “It’s starting to get pretty full, but luckily we have enough capacity.” On Tuesday, about a thousand containers were under a customs blockade.
Call FNV
Earlier, the trade union FNV called for a boycott of Russian ships. With such a boycott, port workers affiliated with the FNV would no longer load and unload containers for Russia if they have moral objections. FNV Havens has 6,000 members and says it will call for the boycott in consultation with the members. Port workers of the Kramer Group are also often affiliated with the trade union, says Kramer. He himself does not receive any signals from his staff that they want to ban Russian ships and therefore does not expect a boycott, but “if they flatten the harbor, there is little we can do about it”.
Of the thousand blocked containers on the Maasvlakte, three hundred have already been investigated and assessed as being in violation of the sanctions. Those containers remain. What should be done with it differs per container, says a customs coordinator at the customs office.
Some containers are given a different destination. For example, a new buyer can be sought for luxury goods that are intended for an oligarch on the sanctions list, and are therefore not allowed to go to Russia. Policy for the longer term is still being worked out by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs. “We don’t know if the sanctions will last for months, years or maybe ten years.”
Perishable products are excluded from the sanctions list – the blocked containers could therefore remain in place for years. “But policies are being worked on to prevent that.”
Until then, the Kramer Group terminal will remain a colorful block box of stacked orange, green, blue, red and gray containers that stretch across the terminal company’s 24 football fields of space. Kramer: “And if that really fills up, we also have a reserve of 12.5 hectares.”