DFDS won't sail between Calais and Dover until today, Friday July 10. All ships are deployed between Dunkirk and Dover. Immigrants are not only entering trucks, but are now also trying to get to Great Britain directly through the Channel Tunnel. Last weekend, rail traffic was delayed for hours in the Eurotunnel, because 150 illegal immigrants stormed the tunnel.
Union talks Thursday
On Tuesday afternoon, rail traffic was again stopped after a migrant died in an attempt to hitch a ride on the train. Apart from the delays, the ferries are very crowded, which is why the English police are bringing out Operation Stack again. This means all stranded trucks can queue up at the end of the waiting line on the M20 again. The Kent police expects Operation Stack to remain in force until the weekend. The continuing delays, according to the Daily Express, have already led to a cucumber shortage at the British Aldi and Lidl. French media report that the union talks have been postponed to next week.
Transport flight
The Eurotunnel is one of the main supply lines between the British isles and the European mainland. In order to ease the burden of the delays, Luxembourgian freight carrier Cargolux flew about 100 tonnes of goods from Luxembourg to the British isles on Saturday. Due to the high transport costs, this return flight would be the only one.
Four-day strike cost UK £1 billion in trade
Transport Online posted an open letter from Chief Executive Tim Waggott of the Port of Dover. In this letter, he discusses the consequences of the MyFerryLink strike for the port of Dover. Waggott emphasizes the importance of the port for British economy. According to the executive, the port of Dover handles one hundred billion pounds in trade every year. "In just four days of concerted disruption in Calais, such action has already cost the UK economy an estimated one billion pounds."
"Not allowed to happen again"
Waggott is surprised about the contradiction: the huge traffic jams and delays at an international port like Calais, caused by only a small group of French strikers. The port executive emphasizes there's not a replacement for the port of Dover: "There is no substitutable capacity anywhere else that can take the type (high value, just-in-time goods) and volume (2.5 million freight vehicles) of traffic that we handle at Dover. Our staff have worked tirelessly, and we have had fantastic multi-agency, ferry operator and trade support in dealing with the industrial action at Calais, but it has taken huge resources."
"This is not about mega lorry parks but about trading nations"
"This is not an immigration issue; neither should it result in navel gazing and meaningless statements on the need for mega lorry parks. This is a debate about our trading island nation maintaining the economic recovery. That is the challenge and what we have seen recently is the stark reality of what happens when Dover is prevented from doing its job by the lawless actions of others."
Fewer illegal immigrants in Hook of Holland
There is good news as well. According to Dutch Secretary of State Klaas Dijkhoff, only 10 illegal immigrants have been found in the port at Hook of Holland since mid-June. In the first half of the year, the number of illegals caught was still only 220. The British government reports that in the past years, 39,000 illegal crossings were prevented. That's double the amount of arrests in the previous year.
