Tag: Brexit

On the occasion of the UK Parliament's vote on Wednesday, BPA issued a new warning on the significant challenges for some ports around a 'no deal' Brexit and the impact upon trade. MPs voted against the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, rejecting May's Brexit deal for a second time.

In preparations of Brexit, Port of Amsterdam is opening an area as a truck parking to ensure that traffic flows properly in ferry terminal in Ijmuiden. Trucks will be able to park temporarily when their customs documents are not in order for maritime transport to and from the UK.

Maersk published a statement that focuses on the issue of Brexit and what the Brexit means for those interested in the shipping industry. UK's departure from Europe means that there will no longer be trade arrangements between the EU and foreign countries and that trade between the UK and those countries will be subject to general rules of the World Trade Organisation.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority, the Municipality of Rotterdam, the Municipality of Vlaardingen and highways authority Rijkswaterstaat, are creating five new buffer parking sites. Trucks will be able to wait there at a temporary base if their customs documents have not been properly prepared for maritime crossings to the UK, when the country leaves the European Union on 29 March 2019.

Belgium's Port of Zeebrugge unveiled two tools to allow a fluent flow of cargo to and from the UK, in view of the extra customs administrations which will be implemented after the Brexit deadline. The two tools are presented under the development of the RX/SeaPort data sharing platform.

The UK Chamber and trade union Nautilus International met with UK's Shipping Minister Nusrat Ghani last week to discuss the recognition of UK Certificates of Competency following the UK’s departure from the European Union. UK Chamber CEO, Bob Sanguinetti, said that the Minister is committed to guarantee that UK seafarers will still be able to work for EU operators.

The UK Government announced that will provide the Stronger Town Fund, meaning £1.6 billion in funding to communities to help drive job creation and enterprise. British Port Authorities (BPA) suggested that the Government should aim port regions in order to grow coastal economic clusters.

In its 2019 Global Container Shipping Outlook, AlixPartners say that the trade between the US and China, the tariffs imposed because of that, and Brexit will disrupt the container shipping industry throughout the course of 2019. As for the industry as a whole, it could be looking at as much as $10 billion in additional exposure, according to 2018 prices.

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. However, container terminals say that they will be capable of processing the extra cargo without any delay.

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. However, the British Ports Association says that there are still concerns about the level of preparedness of the logistics sector and the possible impact of a 'no-deal' Brexit.