Maersk Warns of Disruption From Severe Weather in Europe

By Dominic Chopping

Extreme weather conditions are causing severe disruptions to logistics operations across Europe, with cargo vessels sheltering and terminals forced to halt or scale down activity, Maersk said on Wednesday.

The Danish shipping giant said southwest and Western Europe are experiencing heavy storms and snowfall, forcing reduced productivity at terminals and depots. At the same time, snow and icy road conditions are causing traffic congestion and delays for inland transportation to and from terminals.

"These factors are contributing to longer waiting times for both import and export cargo, as well as increasing yard congestion at several terminals," the company said.

Terminals in the west Mediterranean have stopped operations with no clear indication of when operations can start again, which is having a knock-on effect to cargo heading to and from northern Europe.

In Poland, the terminal at Gdansk is experiencing restrictions as frozen equipment and snow and ice on roads and railways is impacting delivery and collection of cargo.

The Bay of Biscay--an area of ocean that lies along the western coast of France and along the northern coast of Spain--has seen some improvement in weather conditions, but these are expected to worsen again throughout the week, Maersk said.

"This situation is affecting the entire industry, and due to the severity and uncertainty of the conditions, we expect delays and closures to continue to impact vessels and terminals across the board."

The update from Maersk comes after rival CMA CGM said last week that one of its cargo vessels had lost 58 containers at sea while additional containers experienced damage, after hitting strong weather off Malta.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2026 06:56 ET (11:56 GMT)