On Monday, an eight-day strike began at Felixstowe, the United Kingdom's largest container port. "This strike has massive implications. For the time being, we have the delays under control, so there are currently no losses. However, we cannot rule out that these may still arise," says Nicole Visbeen of DLG (Daily Logistics Group) DailyFresh.
Felixstowe handles 48% of Britain's container entry and trade. The strike is hitting the RoRo Ferry that departs from Rotterdam hardest. After Germany, the U.K. is the Dutch fruit and vegetable sector's top sales market.
The 1.900 harbor workers downing tools means DLG has to find alternative solutions. "We usually mostly use Felixstowe and Harwich. Due to the strike, two sailings have been cut, and we've had to partially stop using Felixstowe. However, we cannot add on another full sailing to somewhere like Harwich. So, we're scaling back all shipping lines to increase it there."
As it is, the company is presently experiencing an intensive period, being in the middle of acquiring Gist Nederland's logistics activities. "We're, thus, in team calls with different trade lanes (DailyFresh, Perishables, and Gist, which transfers fully to DLG on August 28) several times a day to see how we can ship or get everything by road to the U.K," Nicole explains.
Nonetheless, DLG does not expect its product delivery to be hugely disrupted. "We're using nine different corridors, so things should, theoretically, work out. By using these multiple corridors, we're fortunately delivering reasonably on time for now. The Eurotunnel is also an option; it just requires a high capacity."
According to Visbeen, the situation is not likely to change in the days to come. "The amount of produce that has to go to the U.K. will, obviously, determine how much inconvenience we'll experience. However, the Dutch greenhouse vegetable season is slowly ending. And we'll have to wait and see what other product groups will do in the coming days."
"I don't foresee any problems for the weekend. There won't be many transporters leaving for the U.K. then. We, however, run seven days a week. And, the strikes in Felixstowe are peaceful, I must say. The morning Felixstowe arrival is running smoothly for now. But that could, of course, change quickly," Nicole concludes.
For more information:
Nicole Visbeen
Daily Logistics Group
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.dlg-logistics.com