JOC Staff | Aug 05, 2011 8:30AM EDT
An unofficial “go-slow” campaign by a group of dockworkers at the Gateway Terminals India operated by APM Terminals threatens to worsen congestion in Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru), India’s biggest container port.
“The Gateway Terminals has been functioning in a ‘go-slow’ mode since early hours of Aug. 2 due to a reported labor issue,” a shipping line agent at Nhava Sheva said.
The agent said because of increased yard congestion, terminal management temporarily shut the export gates for all services until further notice.
“As a result of the export gate closure, container freight stations/buffer yards are nearing full capacity with import deliveries from the terminal seriously affected and expected to be considerably delayed”.
The abrupt disruption comes at a time when the port is struggling to cope with severe terminal congestion and berthing delays caused by the ongoing quay crane installation at the state-owned terminal. Port clogging problems prompted ocean carriers to skip calls at the west coast hub and reroute vessels to Mundra and Pipavav.
GTI, a joint venture between APM Terminals and state-owned rail operator Container Corporation of India, is Nehru’s largest container facility with annual capacity of 2.25 million 20-foot equivalent units.