Sunday, March 26, 2023
HomeHeadlinesBritain's Christmas Is Already Under Threat...

Subscribe

To our FREE newsletter
Get all the latest maritime news delivered straight to your inbox.

Britain’s Christmas Is Already Under Threat…

Strikes at Britain’s biggest container port this week have already caused major disruption to trade and are threatening retailers’ busiest season of the year, a supply chain data company said.

The risk of the Felixstowe strikes dragging on for longer than the current eight-day protest “is causing extreme anxiety for businesses,” project44 warned, adding that delays on goods arriving in time for Christmas are “looking all the more likely.”

Felixstowe, owned by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., accused the Unite union of acting against the interests of its members on Wednesday, saying many are unhappy they’ve been unable to vote on the company’s latest pay offer. A day earlier, a union representative said the strike could go past the planned period if no agreement is reached.

Unite has said that dock workers want a raise of at least 10%, while the company has offered 7% and a £500 bonus.

The biggest beneficiary so far is DP World Ltd.’s port in Southampton, where vessel container capacity jumped 200% as of Aug. 23, project44 said. At London Gateway, also operated by Dubai-based DP World, it was up 45%.

Those terminals are receiving cargo diverted from Felixstowe, where activity has come to a halt and the nearly 2,000 striking workers and the port’s owners appear no closer to a deal.

“Even if the strike is over within a week, which now looks unlikely, it will take containers several weeks to clear out, causing massive delays in the supply chain,” said Josh Brazil, vice president of global supply chain insights at project44.

If that happens, project44 expects that “massive delays will be seen across the UK, with spillover effects into the European Union as containers get diverted to other ports” such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Le Havre, France.

What’s more, “many UK and EU ports are already experiencing maximum capacity volumes, so their ability to handle even more may be limited,” it said.

Source: Bloomberg

Related Posts

Video

Finance & Economy
Shipping News
Ports

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard steps down as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard is stepping down from her role as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers. Christian M. Ingerslev, chief executive officer of Maersk Tankers,...

Frontline’s Fredriksen appointed to Euronav supervisory board

Belgium’s Euronav said its shareholders had overwhelmingly voted to elect John Fredriksen of peer Frontline, a major investor that pulled out of a merger...

UBS Likely to Shrink Credit Suisse’s $10 Billion Shipping Portfolio – Report

UBS Group AG will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group’s $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday,...

Braemar: Record revenue & profitability

Braemar Plc., a provider of expert investment, chartering, and risk management advice to the shipping and energy markets, announced an update on trading...

Oldendorff Carriers announces change of leadership

Effective today, the board of OLDENDORFF CARRIERS has appointed Patrick Hutchins as the new President and CEO of the company. Patrick succeeds Peter Twiss, who...

Global Goods Trade Softening from 2022’s Record Level

International commerce soared to a record of $32 trillion in 2022, but goods trade...

New Hybrid Ferry ‘P&O Pioneer’ Docks At DP World Limassol For Bunkering

P&O Ferries’ newly commissioned Fusion Class vessel ‘P&O Pioneer’ has docked at DP World...

Baltic index gains as capesize rates rebound

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Minerva puts cost of fuel theft as high as $5.2 bil/year

The bunkering industry is losing as much $5.2 billion of fuel annually to quantity...

Baltic index logs worst day in five weeks on tepid demand for larger vessels

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Drewry: Port Throughput Index Down 4.5% Year-on-Year

The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of calendar adjusted volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of...

Port of Los Angeles moves 487,846 container units in February

The Port of Los Angeles processed 487,846 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in February, a 43% decrease from the previous February’s all-time record. “February declines were...

Piraeus Port Authority: Strong growth in 2022

PPA S.A. announced Full Year 2022 financial results, marking a consecutive year of growth with a turnover of €194.6 million compared to €154.2 million...

WLP welcomes 14 strategic Vietnamese partners to its growing network of international traders

World Logistics Passport (WLP), a Dubai-led global initiative designed to smooth the flow of world trade, has welcomed 14 Vietnamese partners to its global...

Port of Hedland February Iron Ore Exports 2% Down

Pilbara Ports Authority has delivered a total monthly throughput of 54.8 million tonnes (Mt) for February 2023. This throughput was a five per cent increase...