‘Don’t leave Christmas shopping to the last minute,’ public warned amid delays at Felixstowe

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Felixstowe
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Millions of families in Britain have been warned not to leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute amid delays getting goods into the country.

Shipping boss Peter Wilson urged people to buy their goods for the festive season in a “timely fashion” or risk finding some items missing on shelves.

He issued the advice as ships were being diverted from Felixstowe, Britain’s largest commercial port, due to delays in getting containers unloaded, partly due to a lack of HGV drivers to transport on the goods.

Mr Wilson, group managing director of the Cory Brothers shipping agency, stressed that supply chains would not “fail”.

However, he also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What I would say to the consumer is be sensible, think ahead, plan appropriately and order your Christmas goods and the items that you need in a timely fashion to ensure that you have them.

“I think that we will see things being delivered.

“There is a potential nearer to Christmas to see some items maybe not being available on the shelves but this supply chain will not fail.”

He continued: “Christmas, the toys, the goods, will be the significant big selling point as we build up to Christmas, and I think that is where we are going to get pinchpoints.”

Shipping giant Maersk has said it is diverting vessels away from UK ports because of a build-up of cargo.

It has started rerouting its container ships away from Felixstowe to unload elsewhere in Europe before using smaller vessels to finally get deliveries to the UK.

The UK’s port industry has also warned that some ports are managing access to storage space with “short-term restrictions” in a bid to ease congestion issues.

Lars Mikael Jensen, head of global ocean network at Maersk, said the HGV driver shortage, which is partly blamed on Brexit, has slowed down the time it takes for containers to be emptied and picked up.

“We had to stop operations on a ship because there was nowhere to discharge the containers,” he said.

“Felixstowe is among the top two or three worst-hit terminals.

“We are having to deviate some of the bigger ships away from Felixstowe and relay some of the smaller ships for the cargo.

“We did it for a little while over the summer and now we’re starting to do it again.”

Mr Jensen also warned that this may mean retailers are forced to prioritise what they ship to deal with the congestion.

A spokesman for the port said: “In common with other major ports in the UK and beyond, the Port of Felixstowe is experiencing impacts of the global supply chain crisis.

“The vast majority of import containers are cleared for collection within minutes of arriving and there are over 1,000 unused haulier bookings most days.

“The situation is improving and there is more spare space for import containers this week than at any time since the beginning of July when supply chain impacts first started to bite.

“Empty container levels remain high as import containers are returned and we are asking shipping lines to remove them as quickly as possible.”

Amid the growing concerns, Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, issued a statement this morning, stressing: “Whilst some are extremely busy, the overwhelming majority of UK ports are currently operating normally. We have a variety of port gateways around the UK and they are continuing to keep the country supplied.

“Container ports around the world are dealing with backlogs in containers, originally stemming from the post Covid-19 lockdowns when we saw surges in activities and pressures on cargo storage.

“Getting empty containers back to Asia and other locations has been challenging but the shipping industry is doing its best to meet global demands. This has been a real issue in North America and continental Europe.”

He added: “A particular issue UK ports are also experiencing surrounds the much publicised lack of haulage. This has meant that some freight is not being collected as rapidly as it would normally. The situation is impacting all types of ports, not just container terminals.

“It has resulted in some further delays for a range of ports and terminal operations are working with their customers to get these goods out of their ports to avoid further congestion. Also this is a peak period in the freight calendar as the pre-Christmas order books create an additional surge in the demand for the ever import hungry British economy.”

However, Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden urged people to buy normally for Christmas.

“I’m confident that people will be able to get their toys for Christmas,” he told Sky News.

He added that the situation at Felixstowe, which handles 36 per cent of the country’s containerised freight, was improving and that the issues facing the UK, the world’s fifth largest economy, were global - such as a shortage of truckers and port congestion.

When asked whether or not people should start to buy now for Christmas, he said: “I would say just buy as you do normally.”

Tim Morris, chief executive officer of the UK Major Ports Group, said that trade ports had become “the jam in the sandwich between surging, volatile shipping and UK supply chains badly impacted by factors such as HGV driver shortages”.

He said: “Ports have taken significant action to respond to the challenges and build resilience.

“They have extended gate opening to 24/7, increased capacity for trucks at peak hours, sought to maximise rail freight usage within the significant constraints of the network, created additional storage space and recruited more people.

“But the pressures are being exacerbated by well-publicised issues impacting all UK supply chains, notably shortages of HGV drivers.

“Ports therefore have to manage access to storage space very dynamically in extreme situations. This can mean some very limited short-term restrictions.

“Ports are committed to working closely with customers and entire supply chains to keep goods moving.”

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