Ferrymen escalate ports battle
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• British hauliers are preparing for siege conditions at Britain's main ports following the National Union of Seamen's de cision last weekend to call upon its entire 20,000 membership for sympathy action in the Dover dispute. As the dispute spread from the ports to the courts with the seizure of NUS assets, union officials predicted the action against P&O European Ferries would escalate into an all-out seamen's strike.
Services between Lame and Scottish ports were halted as were Belfast to Liverpool lines earlier in the week. A 48-hour strike was held on board the British Channel Islands Ferries ship Portelet on Monday following a stoppage on board the Sealink-owned Earl Godwin which docked in Weymouth out of Cherbourg.
British-crewed Sealink services from Dover and Folkestone were also at a standstill this week.
E Hauliers are avoiding sending their trucks through Dover as the I2-week-old P&O European Ferries dispute takes a grip on the Kent port. Dover Harbour Boad has already lost almost 22.5 million because of the strike; much of it from loss of passenger and vehicular traffic.
Coach traffic was 11,128 — an 18.7% fall — while 178,974 trucks used Dover, a fall of 11.3%.
The number of ferry services dropped by a staggering 38% to a total of 9,485 in the three months.