More than 100 lorries were stuck at the Port of Liverpool on Friday afternoon amid “extreme congestion” as port bosses admit they are struggling to cope with the amount of freight that has arrived in recent days, reported Southportvisitor.
Port owner Peel Ports has emailed hauliers who regularly pick up loads that have come off the ships at Seaforth container terminal warning them to stay away until the backlog is cleared.
Peel insists the problem is a temporary one due to late-arriving vessels, combined with the long Bank Holiday Easter weekend.
But one unnamed haulier told the Visiter that the issue had been building up for months and claimed the port was generally struggling to cope with the volume of cargo arriving on ships from all over the world.
In the email to hauliers, Peel Ports said: “We are currently experiencing extreme congestion on site. This has been the knock-on effect of vessels of schedule and the two four-days weeks.
“Unfortunately we are struggling to meet the demand despite all available resources being diverted.
“We currently do not recommend travelling to site, due to the current number of vehicles queuing. Please accept our apologises whilst we return to normal service.”
And in a further message to its customers, Peel said it would be extending its hours of operation over the weekend in an attempt to clear the backlog.
The haulier said: “It is ridiculous – at the moment we just cannot get the work out. It has been going on like this for months.
“I would say I’m waiting an average of three hours – often more – to get in and out of the port.”
In a statement Peel added: “Due to extremely high container volumes and the Easter holiday weekend there have unfortunately been delays to our container operation.
“We are currently in the process of resolving the situation and expect normal service to be resumed shortly.”
Later this year, Peel Ports is due to open its new £300m Liverpool2 terminal at the port.
The facility will mean the port will be able to handle 95% of the world’s biggest ships. Port boss, Gary Hodgson, claims it will revolutionise the logistics market in the UK.
The company is aiming to grab a big slice of the freight that currently comes in through ports in the South of England.
Around 500 people are expected to be employed directly at Liverpool2 once it is fully operational and, in the past couple of weeks, Peel has invited applications from Merseysiders for the first 75 vacancies.
