Send-out and unloading operations at Elengy’s Fos and Montoir terminals are not expected to resume to normal until May 30 due to workers’ strike, the LNG terminal operator said in an update.
The 24-hour strike was launched on Tuesday, May 24th and was expected to impact operations until the end of this week. However, as operations have been faced with a deadlock ever since the normalization is not expected until next week.
The suspension of operations has resulted in vessel queues outside French import terminals on the south of France, with 21 vessels including 12 carrying oil, LNG or chemicals waiting outside the port of Marseille, Reuters reported citing a port spokesperson.
Based on the latest update, currently all cargo operations at Marseilles Fos are at a standstill until this evening, a port spokesperson confirmed to World Maritime News in an emailed statement.
“A 72-hour strike at the Fos oil terminals started on Wednesday, followed Thursday by a 48-hour stoppage at the rest of the Marseille Fos freight terminals handling container, dry bulk and ro-ro services. Seven ships are waiting in the approaches, while five container vessels have modified their call patterns by diverting ,” the statement reads.
Passenger ferry services to Corsica and North Africa are reported to be operating normally.
LNG terminal workers joined the industrial action of workers of the Force Ouvriere and CTG unions in an attempt to exert further pressure on the government to abandon reforms to the Labor law.
The new strikes follow those that were held last week and in particular in Le Havre and Fos by French dockworkers.
World Maritime News Staff