Thread by @pmdfoster

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As Global Britain prepares to set sail, @IHSMarkit port performance data shows @felixstowe_port - the ”Port of Britain” - at the bottom of the efficiency stakes. This is port that takes 40% U.K. containers /1 on.ft.com/3lyVFlP

The congestion is so bad that George Griffiths of @plattsshipping tells me, companies are piling on surcharges - $500-$800 a 40ft box. /2

@plattsshipping This has been a long-running saga - @ft reported in October of calls for the government to intervene as trade groups like @BIFA said their members where being bit by so many delays. @BIFA_DG Robert keen is still suprised govt not doing more /3

ft.com/content/cde6ef…

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG The reasons for the problems are contested by @RHADuncanB
Duncan Buchanan, policy director at the Road Haulage Association, says they are “serious" and a function of Felixstowe becoming a self-serving "monopolistic, moribund place" /4

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG @RHADuncanB Retailers are now starting to squeal - one, an indie book publisher, contacted me over the weekend to say they were "very worried" they'd lose all their Christmas orders because all their books were stuck off Felixstowe..the BBC has more here..

bbc.co.uk/news/business-…

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG @RHADuncanB The Port says that #Brexit stockpiling and #COVID19 PPE deliveries have put huge pressure on the port which has re-appointed Chris Lewis, it's former CEO this November to try and steady the ship... /5

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG @RHADuncanB The users says this is a good step - engagement has improved - but the Port needs to stop denying it has a problem and start looking at how to fix issues, which they say major on shortages of staff on the quayside to move boxes quickly enough, hence slow unload rates /6

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG @RHADuncanB The port says it is recruiting 104 more equipment drivers to speed up operations and that more than 90% of containers are released by customs and available for collection immediately after unloading - but this @IHSMarkit
data clearly shows how much needs to be done. ENDS

@plattsshipping @FT @BIFA @BIFA_DG @RHADuncanB @IHSMarkit PS: This is the letter that boss of Felixstowe wrote to the @FT after the previous piece highlighting concerns at the port

ft.com/content/1cf13f…