Various strikes may cause delays

Please kindly see below message from our Greek agent.

Just need to let you and your export colleagues/staffs know there will be slowing down for vessel to reach Piraeus; due to long delays and long unstuffing time; which will cause high storages; which either C’nee or Shipper to bear.

Antwerp, Belgium

This week, civil servants in Belgium have announced strikes. Each day another province willbe blocked. Till now, we have not faced serious problems, however things may change in theupcoming days. Soft actions, like blocking locks, tugboats, pilotage and impact on vessels,trains, customs and veterinary inspections are expected for the next week. Hard actionsmight follow, whereby traffic to and from Antwerp will be pratically impossible.
BrazilWe have received the following message from our agents in Brazil: Please be advised thatBrazilian customs announced today that all their employees will be on strike as from today,with no forecast to resume work. Please keep your clients advised that delays might occurwith customs clearance and all other processes in which we depend on custom employees.
Nhava Sheva, IndiaOur agents in India have informed us about the strike by the Shipping Agents Association atNhava Sheva, which started on March 17th and is still going on. Please note that also thisstrike can cause delays in operations. There is no forecast on when work will be resumed.

Pireaus + Thessaloniki, Greece

We would like to remind you about the ongoing strikes in the Greek ports as well. For monthsalready, port staffs are working irregular shifts. Currently both ports are operational duringthe morning shifts, but even with less movements. Right now, vessel discharging delay isbetween 10 and 20 days. The current situation remains the same till at least the end ofMarch.

We trust to have informed you sufficiently.