All set to receive the Suez freight avalanche

Algeciras / Cádiz / 03-26-2021: Aerial view of the port of Algeciras PHOTO: PACO PUENTES / EL PAISPACO PUENTES / EL PAÍS

The Suez Canal is no longer blocked.

The mega ship

Ever Given

has been refloated.

And the more than 400 ships that were stuck can cross the seaway through which 12% of world trade passes.

But now you have to update all those stranded goods.

That will mean that in the coming days, according to data from Puertos del Estado, an extra of at least 65,000 containers will arrive in Spain, more than the nearly 50,000 daily handled in February.

No less than a third of them or more - between 20,000 and 25,000 - will arrive at the port of Valencia.

After yesterday's meeting of their port authority, the conclusion is that they are prepared to face this “work squeeze”.

It is an extended idea.

The ports consulted are ready.

They admit that there will be significant peaks of work, but believe that they will be manageable.

The same explains the president of State Ports, Francisco Toledo.

It is also defended by the president of the Stevedores Coordinator in Valencia, Rafael Egea.

"It is within what the port authority can handle," he says.

They are less optimistic in the Association of Shippers of Spain, the employer's association that groups import and export companies.

"We do expect a traffic jam," says its secretary general, Nuria Lacaci, who also points out that the cargo ships coming from Suez will have to be added the arrival of the ships that went around the Cape of Good Hope.

In the Spanish Association of Loader Companies they expect a “tsunami of arrivals”, points out Jordi Espin, its general secretary.

In addition, it points out an additional risk: that shipping companies decide to change their plans and skip stopovers, with the consequent problem for the affected companies.

In the port of Valencia they consider that the avalanche will not be such.

They think that the peak will be reached in a spaced manner during the 10 or 15 days that will follow the next weekend.

For now, the first ship from the canal will arrive on April 10.

"We have the experience and the sufficient infrastructure to face the additional workload that may come these days," said yesterday the deputy director of the Port Authority of Valencia, Néstor Martínez, after a meeting with customs agents, freight forwarders, consignees, warehouses of containers, moorings, stevedores, pilots, tugboats, logistics operators, carriers, stevedoring companies and provisioners.

Around 15,000 containers are moved in Valencia per day.

Of these, about 4,000 come from the Suez Canal, via which 20% of its annual movements arrive.

Another Mediterranean port where the arrival "squeeze" is expected is Barcelona, ​​where they prepare a contingency plan to attend to the goods.

Every week, seven container ships from Asia arrive at this port in stages, passing through the Suez Canal.

The challenge will be to manage the large amount of cargo that will arrive at once: ships from Asia have up to 20,000 containers, those carried by

Ever Given

.

Port sources explain that it is not the first time that Barcelona has faced such a situation.

It has happened after storms or strikes.

And it is managed as a peak of work in any sector, with all the agents involved working 100%.

And if necessary, doubling shifts to face the excess of containers.

In Algeciras they receive with "tranquility" the readjustments due to the blockade of the Suez Canal, says Gerardo Landaluce, president of its port authority.

The port of the Strait has been affected only with four ships.

The docks of Algeciras have already adapted their operations, since "it offers infrastructure of terminals, anchors and stowage to attend to any peak of work", adds Landaluce.

Two of the ships that should have already reached Algeciras and that were blocked after the wrecked ship in Suez have already been able to cross the channel from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

The first of the container ships will arrive in the Strait on Saturday and the second on Sunday, so part of the 2,000 stevedores of the facility are already summoned to work on Easter holidays.

In total, the terminal will be operational for the 96 hours of the bridge, something that falls within the normality of Algeciras.

"We are ready," points out José Antonio González, president of the stevedores' works council.

The port of Algeciras, the one with the highest amount of tons moved in the Mediterranean, has connections with more than 200 ports on all continents.

Landaluce trusts that now the logistics chains will soon return to normal.

Bilbao offers help

The port of Bilbao has offered itself to the large Spanish Mediterranean port facilities to receive ships and alleviate as much as possible the potential traffic jam in the coming days, after a week of closure of the Suez Canal.

The Biscayan facility does not have cranes for large vessels, such as the

Ever Given

, but it can take over smaller ones to ease waiting.

The UGT delegate in the port, Israel Ruiz, assures that now the delay is not noticeable, because the ports of origin are Holland, Great Britain, Belgium, South America and North America.

"Those who come from Asia stop over first," he explains, hinting that consequences may soon be felt.

</CW> <CW0> The CEO of Green Ibérica, responsible for the ports of the Atlantic coast, Arturo Miguélez, predicts "overload and congestion" in those that concern him: Bilbao, Gijón or Vigo.

“All the containers that came to Spain from the <CF1003> Ever Given </CF> were destined for Bilbao (50), Vigo (20) and Gijón (10),” he explains.