By Richard Weiss and Christopher Jasper (Bloomberg)
U.K. port snarl-ups would be exacerbated in a no-deal Brexit, shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd AG warned as vital ferry links to France remained closed for a second day amid concern about a new coronavirus strain.
While Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is desperately trying to re-open the key truck-ferry route between France and Dover, the No. 1 entryway for sea containers at Felixstowe, east of London, is itself badly congested. That situation will likely worsen without a trade accord with the European Union by a Dec. 31 deadline, according to Hapag-Lloyd.
“If there’s a no-deal Brexit there is going to be additional congestion and administrative troubles for the upcoming couple of months,” Rolf Habben Jansen, the firm’s chief executive officer, told Bloomberg Television. “Not so much because it’s a no-deal Brexit, but mainly because there’s a lot of unclarity about the rules that will then be in place.”