the Calais-Sheerness line suspended only
In the port of Calais, a social conflict in the handling sector, the settlement of which gave too much satisfaction to the dock workers of the Handling and Logistics (M&L) company, DFDS wondered about the sustainability of the service opened in July 2021 on Sheerness.
On Friday January 28, the Danish shipowner’s communication department even announced an immediate closure of this line before reversing its decision to stick to the decision taken two weeks earlier. This unaccompanied freight line, which operated the “Maxine” ferry, offered a daily service for up to 165 unaccompanied freight units (driverless trailers or containers).
In his service closure announcement, Wayne Bullen, Freight Sales Manager at DFDS, did not mince words, saying: “Unfortunately negotiations with Calais partners, which are essential to the operation of the line, have not have not resulted in a solution that allows us to continue. Without the cost adjustments that we have identified in the negotiations, it is not viable for us to restore the line”.
The commercial director of the Danish company, had even shown disappointingly that “the inability to find a solution means that we have to withdraw a service which had proved popular with our freight customers”.
The service on Dover, an alternative
He said the company was “in discussion with (the) employees, the ports and (the) customers regarding the impact of the closure of this service”. According to him, this decision could be reviewed if a proposal was presented making the road financially and operationally viable.
The social conflict that DFDS had to face was based on the demands of the CGT dock workers of the Manutention et Logistique (M&L) company, who considered that the operations of loading and unloading unaccompanied trailers were their responsibility and not that of employees of the Strait Ports Operating Company (SEPD).
Justice had been seized by M&L against the port. For its part, the SEPD had defended itself by invoking the sectorization of the port. During its line closure announcement, the Danish operator offered its customers to return to its dependent line from Calais to Dover. For the time being, a decision should be taken during the week, says the shipowner.