Status: 03/23/2023 11:29 am
Due to a warning strike, no pilot boats are in use in the port of Hamburg. Large ships are currently not allowed to navigate the Elbe. Numerous container freighters have to wait in the German Bight.
Container ships are currently unable to call at Germany’s largest seaport. Because of a warning strike by the pilot shifters, Hamburg’s port administration has blocked the Elbe for large ships. The transfer boats usually bring the pilots on board the large freighters.
Walk-out until Friday morning
All ships with a length of 90 meters or a width of 13 meters or more are affected by the blocking. The warning strike had already begun on Wednesday evening, said a spokeswoman for the union ver.di. The walkout in the port should last until Friday morning.
With the warning strike, the workers want to emphasize their demands before the third round of negotiations from March 27th. Ver.di is demanding 10.5 percent more wages for the around 2.5 million employees in the federal and local public services nationwide, but at least 500 euros more per month. The employer side has so far offered five percent more money in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2500 euros.
Hapag-Lloyd: Exact consequences not yet foreseeable
The supply chains in Germany are also affected by the strike in the port of Hamburg. Large container ships that transport goods for import and export are sometimes almost 400 meters long. Around two dozen container ships, bulk carriers and large tankers are currently anchored in the German Bight, waiting to enter the Port of Hamburg.
The Hamburg container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd told the “Handelsblatt”: “Currently it is not yet possible to foresee the exact extent of the disruptions in port operations and in the supply chains in the next few days.”