After its initial announcement about the consequences of French strikes on its operations, Maersk has updated about the ongoing blockades at several ports of France and the significant disruptions to its network in both North and South of France.
Specifically, at Le Havre, Maersk’s primary port in the north, a dockworkers strike is currently ongoing (commenced on Wednesday, 22nd January at 06:00 and will last until Saturday, 25th January at 06:00). Tug boat (towage operations) strike has also been announced, starting at 08:00 on Friday, 24th January and lasting until 08:00 on Saturday, 25th January.
Responding to a Container News request, Arnaud Carval, head of Product Management at Maersk in France, commented:
“Despite the challenging situation, we are taking all the measures we can to minimise the disruption experienced by our customers. These include feeder connections to neighbouring ports and making use of alternative services to carry the cargo destined for or originating from French ports.“
Regarding the container availability, Maersk says that they have not experienced shortages at the moment.
Below are confirmed contingency plans for specific services normally calling Le Havre over the coming days:
- SAMBA Cap San Marco – omitted Le Havre, import cargo discharged in Antwerp
- AE7 Eleonora Maersk – omitted Le Havre, import cargo discharged in Antwerp
- AE6 MSC Katrina – planned to call Le Havre with delay after the strike ends
Maersk is using a feeder service between Antwerp (Belgium) and Le Havre from January 25th onwards to collect units discharged in Antwerp and connect critical Le Havre exports with mainliners in Antwerp.
In addition, at Fos-sur-Mer, the company’s primary port in the South, a similar dockworkers and port workers strike is currently ongoing (commenced on Wednesday, 22nd January at 06:00 and lasting until Saturday, 25th January at 06:00).
Below are confirmed contingency plans for specific services normally calling Fos over the coming days:
- AE20 – termination of the voyage has been declared for the cargo on board MSC Trieste 949W and MSC Beatrice 950W. A feeder product from Barcelona to Fos has been made available for connecting the cargo.
- ME2 – 4 voyages of this service will be diverted to APM Terminals Barcelona to discharge imports and reconnect them back on MMX service. The need for extension of this solution to subsequent vessels is being reviewed.
Maersk Senang 004E connects to Nora Maersk 002E
Maersk Sembawang 005E connects to Safmarine Cameroun 003E
Maersk Kotka connects 006E to Nysted Maersk 004E
Maersk Sebarok connects 007E to Nexoe Maersk 005E
Antonis Karamalegkos
Editor, Container News
