By Nick Lung.    Photo：Kindel Media

The Port of Hamburg, Germany's busiest and Europe's third largest container port, was closed for 48 hours due to a strike by civil servants. The port officials began to restrict the activities of ships on the Elbe River from the morning of March 22 local time, and closed the port later that day. At that time, all ships could not leave the port. The strike is expected to last until Friday morning local time. The Hamburg Port Authority said it had decided to block the Elbe until further notice due to the union strike. The German service union ver.di announced a "temporary strike" calling for a nationwide stoppage over a pay dispute among public sector workers, posting on social media that "thousands of federal and local employees in many cities and neighborhoods are still working." On strike, demanding common demands in the current collective bargaining."

Talks are set for Monday, with unions demanding a wage increase of 10.5 percent, or at least 500 euros a month, for some 2.5 million public sector employees. Media reports said the government had offered two 5 percent pay increases and a one-time payment of about 2,500 euros.

Pilotage service providers serving Hamburg and the Elbe announced they would join the strike. Shipping, logistics and maritime services provider GAC has warned its customers: "Pilots will not be able to board ships entering port during the strike". Reuters estimates that at least 18 large ships are scheduled to arrive in the port of Hamburg. It was not immediately clear how many ships were scheduled to depart but would be delayed.

The Port of Hamburg requires that all vessels over 90 meters or with a beam over 13 meters must be accompanied by a pilot when navigating in the port and along the Elbe. From 10:00 am on March 22, ships sailing on the Elbe will be suspended. From 5:30 p.m. Hamburg time, all vessels requiring a pilot are prohibited from entering or leaving the port of Hamburg or navigating along the river. Smaller vessels that do not require pilots will still be able to operate in ports.

Besides pilots, other services vital to maritime operations could also be affected, including lock gates, movable bridges, embankments and the old Elbe tunnel in St. Pauli. Cargo operations at ports were repeatedly disrupted last year as German dockworkers went on strike to fight for new contracts. The first "temporary strike" took place in June 2022 and lasted on and off for three months after a two-year collective bargaining agreement was reached.

As Germany's largest seaport and the center of inland waterway transportation, the Port of Hamburg has more than 7,000 ship trips every year. In 2022, the Port of Hamburg will handle nearly 120 million tons of cargo, and the container transport volume will exceed 8.3 million TEU. There will be 234 ultra-large container ships arriving at the port, an increase of 6% over the previous year.

Appreciate if you could share TGL Blog among your friends who are interested in first-hand market information of supply chain and updated economic incidents.