The Victorian port industry is continuing to cope with the fall-out of delays caused by protestors blocking access to the Port of Melbourne yesterday.
On Monday morning, pro-Palestine protestors blocked access to Webb Dock Drive, bringing to a halt all operations through Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) and MEDLOG Webb Dock Empty Container Park as well as other port facilities like the Tasmanian trade terminals.
In response, VICT cancelled truck arrivals from the 12-noon time zone, with gates opening later in the day, while MEDLOG said police cleared Webb Dock Drive later yesterday.
The Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) revealed that some protestors remained on-site due to some gluing their hands to 44-gallon drums, with police moving them to the side.
The disruptions come as VICT expects a significant number of vessels to arrive into the terminal, resulting in a high volume of containers requiring both delivery and collection.
VICT has also revised its export receival dates for a number of vessels, disrupting export packing and transport schedules.
The CTAA says the disruption caused by the cancellations will have a major impact on container access and will affect the scheduled dates and times of planned deliveries over the coming week.
Freight forwarders, importers and exporters are urged to speak with their transport operators about the delays.
“Adding to this is the (unavoidable) major traffic disruptions caused by the closures of sections of the M1 west of the Port for West Gate Tunnel Project (WGTP) asphalting and line marking works, and motorway systems commissioning,” the CTAA says.
“These road works are impacting significantly on truck travelling times between transport yards in the western suburbs and the Port of Melbourne.
“In CTAA’s view, the protest actions today were senseless and unwarranted. The end result does not move the dial one inch on ending the war in Gaza. All it does is target hard-working people in the transport industry, delays vital commodity exports impacting our farmers and makes the cost of our imports dearer for you, me and everyone else in the economy.
“The result of at least a four-hour shutdown of VICT equates to over 300 trucks unserviced during that time, and close to 1,000 containers not moved (in or out).
Add to that the delays to trucks in and out of MEDLOG ECP, and the Tasmanian terminals, and we are talking about close to 500 truck movements impacted. The lost productivity to the container transport industry is enormous.”
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