Transporting aid to Ukraine

This last week containers carrying medical supplies left Hamburg for the Ukrainian port city. The goods were purchased with the donations of HHLA employees and means from a company aid fund.

“HHLA continues to uphold its responsibility towards its Ukrainian employees and their families in Odessa. Furthermore, we feel an obligation to provide humanitarian aid in view of the suffering of Ukraine’s population as a result of the ongoing Russian aggression,” said Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, also on behalf of her Executive Board colleagues.

Humanitarian campaign

 As part of an internal humanitarian campaign, HHLA employees in Hamburg and at the terminal in the Italian city of Trieste donated almost €70,000.

HHLA’s executive board topped up this sum using the aid fund into which the company had deposited €1 million at the end of March. 

The medical supplies are urgently needed by the support staff in the Odessa region and include medical supplies such as surgical gloves and dressing material, worth approximately €150,000.

In addition to the interdisciplinary project team backed by consultancy subsidiary HPC, the transport of aid supplies is being supported by employees from European rail subsidiary Metrans, forwarding company CTD – which specialises in transhipments in the Port of Hamburg – and container logistics experts HCCR.

Close coordination with the management of the HHLA Container Terminal Odessa (CTO), as well as the local authorities, will ensure that the humanitarian aid reaches the places where it is most needed.

HHLA’s procurement of the aid supplies was supported by NGO Humanitarian Logistics Organisation e.V. (HLO), who also helped with the export formalities.

Under the HLO, HHLA is now part of the initiative Hafenbrücke Hamburg-Odessa (German for port bridge Hamburg-Odessa), which aims to pool skills and resources in order to supply the people in Odessa and the surrounding areas with urgently needed supplies. 

HHLA has operated a terminal in the city on the Black Sea since 2001, but seaborne handling at the terminal was halted in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.