On November 15, dock workers at San Antonio, Chile’s largest and busiest container port, resumed strike action and are currently experiencing a paralyzed shutdown of the port’s terminals, port operator DP World said last weekend. For recent shipments to Chile, please pay attention to the impact of logistics delays.

Seven ships had to be diverted as a result of the strike action, and a car carrier and a container ship were forced to set sail without completing unloading. Hapag-Lloyd’s container ship “Santos Express” was also delayed at the port. The ship has still berthed in the port of San Antonio after arriving on November 15. Since October, more than 6,500 members of the Chilean ports union have been calling for higher wages amid rising inflation. Workers are also demanding a special pension system for port employees. These demands culminated in a 48-hour strike that broke out on October 26. This affects 23 ports that are part of the Chilean Port Alliance. However, the dispute has not been resolved, and port workers in San Antonio resumed their strike last week.

A meeting held between DP World and union leaders failed to address workers’ concerns. “This strike has wreaked havoc on the entire logistics system. In October, our TEUs were down 35% and San Antonio’s average TEUs have dropped 25% over the past three months. These repeated strikes put our commercial contracts at risk .