SA cargo escapes delays despite severe blizzards

Alan Peat DESPITE THE Arctic weather conditions in Western Europe, the effect on seafreight scheduling has been minimal, according to George Slade, who heads up the Southern Africa/Europe Container Service (SAECS) in London. Although reports reached FTW last week about cargoes being delayed because bad road conditions had prevented truckers getting containers to the docks on time, Slade told us he was “only aware of small delays” because of this, and only one instance in the UK. “We did experience problems recently in the UK given unexpectedly severe blizzard conditions,” he added. “This resulted in lack of visibility at times for crane drivers; straddle carriers having difficulty with traction because of ice; the inability to read container numbers covered with snow etc.” He did, however, report that the underlying ice had caused many road hauliers not to venture onto the roads in what he said “was the biggest snowfall in 12 years” in the south of England. “On the Continent,” said Slade, “where these conditions are encountered more regularly, they coped better - even with more severe conditions. “The sea was actually frozen in some European ports.” “Other than to rearrange schedules due to current port strikes,” Slade told FTW, “all vessels have been on schedule.”