Great Britain. Christmas without gifts? A new crisis in the UK

The British economy is suffering from the effects of Brexit, among which is a shortage of at least 100,000. truck drivers. For this reason, there were already problems with the supply of large-sized stores in the UK, as customers faced empty shelves.

Other consequences of the lack of drivers include fuel shortages at gas stations and long queues for dispensers. Now comes another serious crisis that could spoil the holidays for the British people this time.

Maersk withdraws to the continent

The world’s largest container company, Denmark’s Maersk, is temporarily pulling some ships from the British container port Felixstowe in Suffolk. The global giant has rerouted some of its container ships to ports on the mainland. At the moment, it is one ship per week with a tonnage of 80 thousand tons. Ringtone, ring. Container ships usually sail to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The reason for this decision was the significant delay in the collection of goods from the terminal in Felixstowe due to the lack of trucks, which have no one to drive in the UK.

See: Great Britain. Media: Farmers are forced to pour milk due to lack of drivers

Philip Bleeckert, correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in London wrote: “There is growing concern that the logistical crisis will worsen. It is said that gifts will no longer arrive at Christmas.”

Terminal at Felixstowe is responsible for handling 36 percent. Container loads across the UK. In total, about 2,000 ships with electronics, bicycles, household appliances and furniture are shipped there annually – mainly from Asia. “We had to stop work because there was no place left to unload the cargo,” Lars Michael Jensen, head of the East-West Ocean Network in Maersk, explained to the German newspaper.

Maersk said a lack of internal distribution in the face of rising demand was the main reason for abandoning Felixstowe, Reuters news agency reported.

50 thousand containers waiting to be unloaded

And the port authorities informed, on Wednesday, that 50,000 are waiting to be collected. containers. “It is not the port of Felixsthew that obstructs the supply chains, it is the supply chains that blocks the port of Felixsthew” – stated the management of the largest trading terminal in Great Britain. The press release stated that the situation was “similar at all major UK ports”.

At Felixstowe, the average time between container unloading from the ship and picking up by truck has increased to 10 days, although it usually takes 3-5 days, and larger ships have to wait up to seven days to enter port and unload the containers at all.

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Maersk offloads larger vessels on the mainland, then containers are loaded onto smaller-tonnage vessels, so that goods can reach smaller, less-loaded ports on the islands.

The company emphasized that the situation became more difficult due to the fact that more than 90 per cent. All imported goods go to Great Britain by sea.

Trouble caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union

The shortage of truck drivers is due to Brexit restrictions and partly the pandemic. New, stricter immigration regulations have led to the departure of tens of thousands of foreign nationals who previously worked in the UK. It is estimated that around 100,000 jobs are lost in Great Britain. truck drivers.

In an effort to control the crisis, the British government announced less than two weeks ago that it would issue visas of several months in exchange for 5,000 foreign truck drivers. However, the authorities have so far not managed to avoid the crisis, which has spread to other industries, since there was also a shortage of specialists.

See: Crisis in Great Britain. There is a shortage of gasoline and long queues at gas stations

Conservative Party chief Oliver Dowden admitted on Wednesday to Sky News that foreign drivers have so far submitted 300 visa applications, of which only 20 have been approved so far. birthday presents.

The transport and freight sector, whose representatives advise the British to plan in advance for Christmas shopping, has a different opinion.