Archives



Forwarding, Freight News, Sea


BIFA calls for state to step in to sort out Felixstowe woes

[ October 9, 2020   //   ]

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) is asking for government intervention at the port of Felixstowe, where operations have been severely disrupted.

It says that forwarders are suffering major operational damage and incurring significant additional costs as a result of the ongoing disruption to operations at the port of Felixstowe and is demanding that Government intervenes in the dispute between the port’s owners and users.
BIFA director general Robert Keen, said: “There is a huge difference of opinion between the port’s users and its management, over the causes of the less than satisfactory operational performance that continues to be experienced at Felixstowe. Our members say that the port authority is merely paying lip service to any enquiries they make, which is unacceptable for a port authority, which owns the UK’s busiest container port.”.
Je says that the ill-fated migration to a new in-house terminal operating system in 2018 appears to be at the root of the current problems, which is exacerbating congestion caused by a huge increase in container moves ahead of the Golden Week in China, reduced container moves per hour at the quayside and serious staffing issues, due to Covid measures.
He said: “BIFA members have suffered from two years of poor service from the port, and we feel that there is a need for independent intervention by government to address the many issues faced by the port’s users.”

Tags: