A potential strike at U.S. seaports on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico could back up cargo there for weeks or even months, shipping experts said on Wednesday.
Retailers like Walmart and other importers have been rushing goods in ahead of the September 30 expiration of the union contract covering some 45,000 dockworkers at three dozen seaports from Texas to Maine.
Their goal? To land cargo in the U.S. before October 1, when the International Longshoremen’s Association representing those workers has vowed to strike if a new contract is not in place.
Analysts at Sea-Intelligence, a Copenhagen-based shipping advisory firm, estimated that it could take anywhere from four to six days to clear the backlog from a one-day strike. “This means that a (one)-week strike in the beginning of October would not be cleared until mid-November,” Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy said in a statement.
A two-week strike could mean that ports would not return to normal operations until 2025, Murphy said.
Read more in an article from gCaptain.