While Theresa May is trying to prevent the UK from leaving the EU without a deal next month, some companies are making their plans to bypass the port of Dover in an event that a hard Brexit creates significant problems.
The possibility of truck jams in Europe’s busiest ferry port is driving a rethink of transport modes, Bloomberg notes, as some key cargoes to ocean-going containers become an alternative to the traditional route.
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In fact, the introduction of customs checks after a ‘no deal’ Brexit could cost each truck vital minutes, creating large tailbacks. However, container terminals say that they will be capable of processing the extra cargo without any delay.
What is more, a recent survey by Drewry reported that the Port of Dover has the resilience to cope with moderate disruption arising from Brexit and there is latent short sea capacity to absorb significant overflow at the port in the event of capacity constraints.
It specifically noted that Dover has the Border Control, check-in, embarkation area and berth capacity to deal with current demand with some margin and could cope with a 50% increase in process times in key areas, although traffic peaks (a characteristic of the cross Channel Ro-Ro trade) would need to be managed.
In addition, UK ports have been working with the government to find ways to mitigate the possible cross border problems that might arise at Ro-Ro ports in the short term, in case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. Nonetheless, the British Ports Association (BPA) says that there are still concerns about the level of preparedness of the logistics sector and the possible impact of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.
