Maersk yesterday issued a stop work notice to 582 employees of its Australian tugboat company Svitzer, prohibiting its tugboat crew from working. Svitzer is the largest tugboat operator in Australia, with nearly 100 tugboats deployed in various waters.

The lockout will begin at 12:00 a.m. EDT on November 18 and will continue indefinitely. After the lockout takes effect, no vessels will be towed into or out of the 17 Australian ports served by Svitzer.

It is expected that this shutdown will affect the shipping business of major metropolises and ports in Australia in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and Australia's supply chain is facing collapse!

Nicolaj, the chairman of Svitzer, said he hoped there would be no strike, but now he had no choice but to respond to the strike action of the trade union.

Svitzer stated that it made this decision in accordance with the provisions of the Fair Work Act in response to the continuing strike action organized by the trade union. 

Since the expiration of the towage enterprise agreement in 2019, Svitzer has negotiated with the maritime union for more than three years, but the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement.

The operators of the affected Australian ports called for government intervention to prevent stoppages and ultimately resolve contract disputes.

Svitzer is the largest tugboat operator in Australia, which conducts about 50000 towing operations every year, which means that this shutdown may lead to the stoppage of most container transport, causing people to worry about the large-scale disruption of the supply chain before Christmas.

GLA hereby reminds the freight forwarders that if there are goods going to Australia, they need to pay attention to the latest logistics information, make good freight arrangements and avoid unnecessary cost expenditure.