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Forwarders to bear brunt of Felixstowe IT chaos

[ July 2, 2018   //   ]

BIFA has warned that freight forwarders that suffered operational problems and incurred additional costs as a result of the disruption at the port of Felixstowe due to problems with a new IT system were unlikely to receive any compensation from the port’s owners.
Director general Robert Keen said: “Having had a meeting with the port’s senior management, it is clear that the only companies that might receive any compensation are shipping lines. The port authority…does not consider BIFA members to be direct customers of the port, and would not be willing to have a discussion about possible compensation for the damage caused and the increased costs that have been incurred by those members.”

In June, shipping lines and freight forwarders areported disruption at Felixstowe after teething problems hit a new terminal operating system. Shipping lines cancelled calls and diverted vessels, leading in turn  to delays of 3-4 hours for hauliers.

Keen added: “It is astonishing that a port authority, which owns the UK’s busiest container port and has been happy to market it as the ‘Port of Britain’, implemented a new and vitally important system with apparently no fall-back position if it went wrong.
“And it is very disappointing that it is not even prepared to discuss any kind of compensation for such a failure in customer service.”

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