Thousands of Russian-bound containers stuck at Rotterdam port

The European sanctions against Russia are causing major congestion at the port of Rotterdam, where thousands of Russian-bound containers are stuck waiting for inspection. Before they can be sent on, the containers need to be carefully inspected to ensure that sending them won't breach sanctions, port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein explained to Bloomberg.

"You can just imagine the nightmare that emerges," Castelein said to the news agency. "Several tens of hundreds" of containers destined for Russia arrive at the port every day. "You need to isolate them, set them apart, and then do physical inspections of the containers before thy can be released." Around 4,500 containers are currently at the port awaiting inspection. 

About 13 percent of the 470 million tons of shipped goods that move through the port of Rotterdam every year are from or destined for Russia. Of all the containers that move through the port, about 10 percent are linked to the country in some way. About 30 percent of Russian crude oil, 25 percent of liquified natural gas, and 20 percent of oil products and coal are imported through Rotterdam.