Svitzer, a giant Australian towage operator, has planned a lockout of tug crews due to a labor dispute with maritime unions.

According to Svitzer, this lockout would begin this Friday (18th November) and continue indefinitely. 582 tug employees would be prevented from working.

Tug services play an important role in shipping operations. During the lockout, it is expected that no shipping vessels would be towed in or out of a total of 17 container ports served by Svitzer in Australia. To be more specific, ports in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia would feel the pinch. Shipping traffic to the 17 ports would be stopped.

The flow of consumer goods and bulk commodities would also be brought to a standstill. However, it is worth noting that Svitzer terminal operations supporting the oil and gas sector or operations in other states would not be affected.

The Maritime Union of Australia has accused Svitzer of disrupting the already harmed supply chains. According to Nicolaj Noes, Svitzer Australia MD, the goal of Svitzer has been to reach a new enterprise agreement all the time.

Maersk has been notified of the lockout of Svitzer and announced that there are shipping vessels that will be impacted up to this date. Further updates will be posted on the official website of Maersk:

Vessel/Voyage:

SPIRIT OF MELBOURNE 238S/244N

Schedule Impact:

Advance departure from Melbourne, impacting cargo operations. Separate notifications have been sent.

Vessel/Voyage:

MATE 224S/228N

Schedule Impact:

Delayed into Melbourne ETA 14/11/2022

Vessel/Voyage:

MAERSK SEOUL 241S/242N

Schedule Impact:

Advance departure in Fremantle ,2nd Fremantle and Adelaide calls confirmed. Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane dates are still tentative. Separate notifications have been sent for the 1st Fremantle call.

Vessel/Voyage:

MAERSK SEBAROK 241S/245N

Schedule Impact:

Delayed into Melbourne ETA 15/11/2022 and Brisbane ETA 19/11/2022

Vessel/Voyage:

OLUF MAERSK 239S/245N

Schedule Impact:

Delayed into Melbourne ETA 17/11/2022