Maersk announced that it is omitting three calls at the Port of Felixstowe from August 21 to August 29 amid an ongoing strike in the UK's largest port.
In its August 24 advisory, the Danish shipping company said that until August 29, 2022 three services – AE6 on Asia – Europe, LO2 – a North European feeder, and the SLC service will be omitted from its port calls.
"At the Port of Felixstowe, strike action is currently under way until Monday 29 August and affecting logistics operations in and out of the UK," Maersk said, noting that its teams are looking to minimise disruption to supply chains.
"Our contingency measures are in place to combat the circumstances at Felixstowe, including making changes to our vessel line-up to maximise available labour at the immediate conclusion of the strike," the customer advisory added.
In an earlier advisory, Maersk said for the AE6 service, the Maersk Evelyn will link to the MSC Sveva in Le Havre to discharge cargo with an ETA of 29 August for Felixstowe. Cosco Vietnam's cargo will be unloaded in Antwerp for connecting on the Vega Maersk with an ETA in Felixstowe of August 30 for the SLC service. All cargo for the LO2 service will be discharged at London Gateway.
Maersk noted that once normal service resumes at the end of the strike, the liner anticipates demand for carrier haulage to be at "very high levels."
A strike vote was approved by 92% of the 1,900 Unite Union members in late July in response to the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company's offer to increase workers' salaries by 5%.
Port workers are now anticipated to strike starting on August 21 after further negotiations between unions and the Hutchison Ports-owned corporation have failed to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile, data analysis by MDS Transmodal, said the total value of containers impacted by the eight-day strike at the UK's largest container port, is estimated at roughly US$4.7 billion.
