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Possible US seaport strike could support goods for months, shipping professionals state

A potential strike at U.S. seaports on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico could back up freight there for weeks or even months, shipping professionals said on Wednesday.

Retailers like Walmart and other importers have been hurrying items in ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration of the union contract covering some 45,000 dockworkers at 3 dozen seaports from Texas to Maine.

Their objective? To land cargo in the U.S. before Oct. 1, when the International Longshoremen's Association representing those employees has promised to strike if a new agreement is not in place.

Analysts at Sea-Intelligence, a Copenhagen-based shipping advisory firm, approximated that it might take anywhere from 4 to six days to clear the stockpile from a one-day strike.

This suggests that a (one)- week strike in the start of October would not be cleared up until mid-November, Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy stated in a declaration.

A two-week strike might indicate that ports would not return to normal operations until 2025, Murphy said.

Those findings echo an advisory from A.P. Moller-Maersk , among the biggest providers of ocean transportation. Maersk stated a one-week shutdown might need up to six weeks of recovery time, with substantial backlogs and delays compounding with each passing day.

The early shipping technique has included a hefty expense to shippers. The off-contract spot market price to send a 40-foot container to the U.S. East Coast from the Far East topped $ 10,000 in early July, up from around $2,100 in early April, said Peter Sand, chief analyst at pricing platform Xeneta.

The danger of port strikes was something that had to be handled - by taking early action, Sand said.

That window is closing as the deadline for a new deal nears. That's due to the fact that shipping diversions due to attacks by Yemen's. Houthis in the Red Sea means it can take 45 days or longer to. transport goods to East and Gulf Coast ports from factories in. Asia.

Shipping freights next week ... is actually far too late - as it. might just be resting on the water if the ports are struck by. prevalent strikes, Sand said.

(source: Reuters)