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Brexit update: container traffic jams - now British ports are running out too

Brexit update: container traffic jams – now British ports are running out too

  • fromMichelle Bri

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The situation in Great Britain is getting worse. Due to the shortage of truck drivers, container ports are under pressure. The world’s largest shipping company is now drawing conclusions.

LONDON/MUNICH – In the retail sector, of all things, the environment deteriorates during important Christmas business. Can all gifts be delivered to end customers on time? In Great Britain in particular, the situation appears to have worsened again shortly before Christmas. British ports complain of stagnation. Container ships will be diverted or will have to wait days at sea to get in. British media reported. Felixstowe, the country’s most important container port, was also affected.

Because of a shortage of truck drivers: Britain’s ports are now running out

Such as financial times Reports, the world’s largest shipping company Maersk is no longer calling for container port Felixstowe. Usually more than a third of container ships’ loads bound for Great Britain are offloaded there. Lars Mikael Jensen, director of Maersk, told the British newspaper: “We had to halt operations because there was no longer room to unload. Felixstowe is one of the two worst affected terminals in the world.” Other ports face similar problems. Container ships were stored in Hamburg, Rotterdam and China, for example.

Thousands of shipping containers stand at Port Felixstowe in Suffolk.

© Joe Giddens / dpa

According to the port of Felixstowe, it takes up to ten days to unload containers and transport their loads on trucks. The reason for waiting for a number of containers is due to the stark shortage of truck drivers in Great Britain. However, the shortage of truck drivers has not only been an issue since yesterday. In addition, there is now the usual increase due to the start of Christmas business, as recently announced by the British Ports Association.

‘London wanted Brexit, and now they’re getting it’

However, a suitable solution does not appear to be in sight. Recently, Visa planned for up to 5,000 foreign truck drivers to deal with highly questionable delivery bottlenecks. “No one will accept that,” said Dirk Engelhardt of the German news agency dpa in London. He is the president of the Federal Freight Forwarding, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) Association. He didn’t know anyone had come forward. Instead, Eastern European specialists are outraged by the British government’s actions.

“London wanted Brexit, and now they understand it,” Englehart said, referring to strict new immigration rules. Since January 1, EU citizens need expensive visas if they want to work in the UK. The UK government of Boris Johnson recently announced that 127 visas have been issued to tanker truck drivers. However, it remains questionable whether this can have a lasting impact on delivery bottlenecks. The government was optimistic on Wednesday. “The situation is getting better,” said Oliver Dowden, general secretary of the ruling Conservative Party, Sky News anchor. “I’m sure people will get their toys for Christmas.”

But not only in Great Britain is one of the parties concerned about the timely delivery of gifts. Germany can also sense global delivery bottlenecks. Ifo* has already issued a warning. (mbr / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offering from IPPEN.MEDIA

Headline list image: © Joe Giddens / dpa