About 2,000 dockers at the Port of Felixstowe began an eight-day walkout on Sunday, halting the flow of goods through the UK’s largest gateway for containerized imports and exports, which handles about a third of Britain’s total container volume and an even bigger share of direct trade with Asia.
Shipping lines plan to reroute cargo around the picket line, adding time and cost. A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S said last week that two ships will skip usual stops and unload Felixstowe-bound consignments at continental ports before sending them on when the strike ends. Another will switch to DP World Ltd.’s London Gateway, the UK’s third-busiest port.
The strike could disrupt more than $800 million in trade, according to Russell Group, a data and analytics company. Though it’s too soon to evaluate any wider hit to growth, companies are anticipating longer delivery times and higher expenses that can only hurt Britain’s inflation-ravaged economy.
Read more in an article from the American Journal of Transportation.