As expected by many in the industry, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) have gone on strike indefinitely across 14 major ports along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States. The last ILA coastwise strike occurred in 1977. The work stoppage is expected to significantly disrupt trade as container terminals and roro operations have shut down from Maine to Texas.
Any cargo or containers not already collected from the container terminals is no longer accessible. Depending on how long the strike lasts, we will see delays and congestion issues when the terminals reopen. Export cargoes also cannot be delivered to the terminals at this time.
The current 6-year contract expired at 12:01 on October 1st. Ongoing negotiations broke down in June of this year and never restarted. Food stuffs to consumer goods and industrial commodities will be affected by the strike. Depending on the length of the action, increased prices and shortages of certain goods may occur.
Potential Transport Alternatives
- Routing import and export cargoes via the West Coast
- Consider air freight where practical
- Look at moving some container to breakbulk carriage into some of the Gulf Ports
Feel free to contact our US teams in Houston, Miami and Dallas to discuss the alternatives.
We continue to work hard to ensure smooth logistics operations and use our experience and partners to move our clients' goods. We appreciate your patience during these challenging times, as delays are likely to happen in the coming days and weeks. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will keep our clients regularly informed.
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