1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
...and repairs will take months
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
OFFICIALS AT THE Port of Calais say there will be no further disruption to cross-Channel ferry services even though damage to one of its berths following an accident will take months to repair.
The Freight Transport Association estimates that late deliveries and lost productivity caused by the damage had cost £10m by the beginning of this week (21February).
Gerard Barron,director of communications at the port, says one of its berths will be out of action for months while repairs and an investigation is carried out.
A Port of Calais spokesman says: The bottom deck of the berth broke as two lorries were coming off. One truck almost went into the water the driver broke his ankle as he jumped clear.
"We have closed two berths to replace the cables and ensure this won't happen again."
Barron continues: "But at this period of the year, we only use three berths anyway. We are very sorry to provide a bad service for a few days."
The Road Haulage Association has accused the Calais authorities of not acting quickly enough, saying trucks were reported to be queuing for up to 10 miles outside the port at the height of the delays.
Chief executive Roger King says: "It's time that attitudes changed. No airline would put up with Heathrow being out of action for longer than a few minutes so why is it different for a port?"
Nick Charlesworth, general manager of Laser Transport in Hythe. Kent, says the majority of its traffic goes through Eurotunnel but this had been hit by big queues as well. -It's difficult for [Eurotunnet] to give their regular customers priority if they're outside the terminal." he points out.