Another strike is on the way at Europe's largest port

Recently, strikes have been held at many seaports in Germany, including Germany's largest ports Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Emden, etc., all of which have been affected. The next round of negotiations is expected to take place on Tuesday, June 21, with an assessment of next steps.

Antwerp-Bruges, the Europe's largest port, is bracing for another strike at a time when Belgian port facilities are suffering from unusual congestion,media reported. Many unions plan to hold a nationwide strike on Monday, demanding higher wages, better access to social dialogue and greater investment in the public sector. A similar one-day nationwide strike at the end of May crippled operations at many of the country's ports, with pilots not working and locks not working properly.

"Given the current port-related work motivation of our employees, our operational activities are facing restrictions," said a notice sent to PSA International's clients, seen by Splash. PSA is the main terminal operator in the Belgian city of Antwerp and the European hub port for the Singapore port operator. The Ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge officially began working together as a unified entity in April. Collectively known as the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, which has become Europe's largest export port with 74,000 employees and the largest car port in Europe, the port is already under considerable pressure with the arrival of the peak season.

German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd suspended barge services in the city this month as congestion at the terminals increased. Barge operator Contargo warned a week ago that wait times in Antwerp had increased from 33 hours at the end of May to 46 hours on June 9.

Dockworkers in Hamburg, Germany, staged a brief, threatening strike on Friday, the first in more than three decades at Germany's largest port, as wage negotiations also involve other northern German port cities, which are also in limbo. . Unions in the Hanseatic city have threatened further strike action at a time when the port is already heavily congested.

Maersk also recently released the latest updates on major ports in northern Europe, indicating continued congestion, long layover times and ship delays across northern Europe. Over the next few weeks, the evolving situation in Northern Europe will continue to be monitored and adjustments made as needed to support customers' global logistics needs. To help ease terminal congestion, Maersk is asking customers to pick up inbound container cargo as soon as possible and re-use empty containers for export. And return the export container as late as possible before the cargo cut-off time.

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