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European ports are seriously affected by the strike and the supply chain is blocked

Time:2022-08-25 Publisher:Kevin Num:3543

At present, the logistics supply chain will face greater pressure due to the impact of strikes across Europe.

Christian roeloffs, CEO and co-founder of Container x Change, said: even a small-scale disruption of port operations will have a significant impact on the efficiency of the container liner network.

At the same time, this will create a domino effect in the upstream and downstream of the supply chain. This year's workers' strike in European ports has brought a serious impact on logistics operations, manufacturers and the entire freight industry.

The latest strike in the British port of Felix Stowe is an example. On August 21, an 8-day strike began in the port, involving more than 1900 workers due to salary issues. It is reported that the annual throughput of the port exceeds 4 million TEUs.

As a response measure, several container liner companies cancelled their regular berths at the port and rescheduled their routes to other ports in northern Europe and the United Kingdom. The strike action will increase the pressure on the logistics supply chain in the port of Felix and the United Kingdom.

Maersk said that the berthing of three ships was cancelled during the strike, and said in a statement: "we expect that the strike action will have a significant impact on ship arrangements. We are working with ship partners to minimize risks and interference."

Josh Brazil, vice president of supply chain insight at project44, said: "the supply chain will face more pressure. With the increase of empty navigation and container backlog, the congestion situation in Europe is expected to worsen."

Brazil said: "European ports have encountered difficulties in trying to reconcile with the strike labor force, which has led to a shortage of capacity in Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremen, and many ships have lined up along their coasts."

The average freight turnover time of the transatlantic route has climbed to 27 days in July, close to the historical highest level of 29 days at the beginning of the year.

In the past two years, Felixsto port has suffered from congestion and container surplus. According to the container availability index of container xchange, the average CAX index of the port has been hovering around 0.9 for most of 2022, making it one of the ports with the highest index in Europe.

Roeloffs said that the index showed that even before the strike started, it was difficult for terminal operators and carriers to clear the containers in the yard, especially empty containers.

The operation interruption caused by the strike will reduce the operation efficiency of the supply chain in the terminal and hinterland, and will also have an impact on the carrier network in the European region and the Asia Europe route.

In fact, the impact of the strike on port operation depends on the nature of the port, the service level that can be maintained during the strike, and the response of operators and terminals to the interruption of operation.

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