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Ports busy but coping says BPA

[ October 13, 2021   //   ]

Most UK ports are busy but operating normally, says the British Ports Association in response to media reports of serious congestion at Felixstowe and that Maersk had dropped some mainline vessel calls there. It said that while some are extremely busy, “the overwhelming majority of UK ports are currently operating normally. We have a variety of port gateways around the UK and they are continuing to keep the country supplied.”

BPA said that container ports around the world are dealing with backlogs in containers, originally stemming from post Covid. “Getting empty containers back to Asia and other locations has been challenging but the shipping industry is doing its best to meet global demands. This has been a real issue in North America and continental Europe.”

BPA added that a particular issue in UK ports is lack of haulage. This means some freight is not being collected as rapidly as it would normally, a situation that is affecting all types of ports, not just container terminals. BPA added: “It has resulted in some further delays for a range of ports and terminal operations are working with their customers to get these goods out of their ports to avoid further congestion. Also this is a peak period in the freight calendar as the pre-Christmas order books create an additional surge in the demand for the ever import hungry British economy.”

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