News
Felixstowe advisory
Please be advised of industry wide congestion at the Port of Felixstowe, UK, resulting in disrupted vessel operations (discharging and loading) and reduced haulage availability, as well as disruptions to land-side movements with import containers missing planned connections by rail and truck on and off the terminal. In consequence, vessels continue to omit and divert from FXT, and discharge at either London Gateway or Southampton.
In addition, vessel carriers are still opting to cut & run with UK bound containers discharging on the continent, and in some cases containers are not being returned until 7-14 days thereafter.
The port of Felixstowe has hit capacity and despite no official statement from the port’s authority, VBS slots are currently not being issued and the shipping lines are refusing the restitution of empty containers back to the port. Additionally, warehouses are unable to store empty containers at their facilities, so without a restitution slot at the port, the decision to remove the container and restitute elsewhere may need to be taken.
As alternative UK ports, Southampton, London Gateway and Northern ports continue to operate with a normal service, albeit with some partial closures due to daily deep cleaning, resulting in some reduced collections / VBS slots.
While these factors are beyond our control, our teams are working hard to protect the smooth movement of your cargo as much as possible. Please make your bookings as early as possible to avoid disruption or contact us to discuss alternative transport and storage solutions.