We have received advice of Svitzer Australia’s intention to lock out all crews covered by the Svitzer Australia Pty Ltd National Towage Enterprise Agreement (2016) indefinitely, from 12 pm, Friday 18 November 2022 AEDT.
 
This comes after many months of enterprise agreement negotiations with the three maritime unions in Australia, and according to Svitzer “more than 1100 instances of protected industrial action since October 2020.”
 
While there are alternative tug operators in each of the capital city container ports affected (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle), the suspension of all towage services by Svitzer will likely have an impact on the timely movement of vessels in/out of these ports. Such delays can cause a flow-on effect on landside container logistics operations, including vessel berthing and/or departures.
 
 Please contact your local Kerry Representative if you have any concerns.