Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Jan 12, 2012 1:49PM EST
National strikes have shutdown Nigeria’s ports, forcing Maersk Line ships to wait until the protests over the cancellation of popular fuel subsidies wanes, according to Reuters.
Eight of the Danish carrier’s container ships have been affected by operations standstill at Nigerian ports, Sonny Dahl, director of West Africa services. He said some of the vessels are waiting outside the harbor while others are slated to arrive in Nigeria in two days.
"We are consistently evaluating whether we should divert any of them to other ports (outside of Nigeria)," he said. "For now, we have made a plan until early next week that we wait outside. It's anyone's guess when the strike will end."
The Nigerian market represented 60 percent of Maersk’s container imports into West Africa. The ships are carrying food and consumer goods.
The government’s removal of fuel subsidies more than doubled the price of gasoline, shutting down banks, stores and schools. Nigeria's main oil union said this week it aims to shut down the country's oil and gas production on Sunday.
-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
