Approaching 2,000 workers began their eight-day strike on
Sunday August 21st at the UK’s largest container port Felixstowe.
Operated by Hutchison Ports, Felixstowe handles more than
4m teu a year and accounts for just under half of container volumes in the UK.
Sea-Intelligence said in its latest weekly report that
“the impact will be felt on the supply chains in the UK for all types of
goods. Significant amounts of import cargo to the UK are likely to be
discharged on the European continent”. Most of the major shipping lines
had attempted via juggling of route details to either bring forward or push
back calls at Felixstowe. But calls to the UK for larger container ships this
week have in the main been cancelled.
Lars Jensen, CEO of liner consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said
last week that “with such large strikes carriers are likely to have to
offload UK-bound cargo in major hubs such as Antwerp and Rotterdam and as a
consequence further worsen existing congestion problems on the continent as
well.”
There were estimates that it could take more than three
weeks to clear the cargo backlogs from the strike at Felixstowe.
Hutchison Ports said that the workers’ union at
Felixstowe had rejected a request to call off the eight-day strike and to
continue negotiations,
The Port of Felixstowe said Saturday that its staff
union, which includes about 500 clerical, supervisors and engineering staff, had
accepted a wage agreement previously agreed by Unite.
