Stevedores at Brazil’s Port of Santos invaded a CMA CGM container ship, in the latest in a series of strikes and protests affecting container shipping, with the action causing a two-hour delay for shippers using South America’s leading port for containers.
Federal police (Policia Federal: PF) reported that seven stevedores were arrested Wednesday evening, including the president of the Sindestiva dockers’ union, Rodnei Oliveira da Silva, and were detained overnight before being released on bail, following the invasion of the Mercosul Suape, a 2,474-TEU ship owned by CMA CGM. (In October, CMA CGM purchased Mercosul Line from Maersk Line.)
The Mercosul Suape, which operates in the Brazilian cabotage trades linking eight ports from Manaus in the Amazonas region to Itajai in the south, was berthed at Santos’ Terminal 35, owned by Grupo Libra when the incident occurred. (Grupo Libra recently filed for bankruptcy protection.) The ship was delayed two hours while the PF made the arrests but has since continued its service towards Itajai.
“The invaded ship was the Mercosul Suape, which was berthed at the Libra Terminal, and the federal police detained seven stevedores who were taken to the police station,” José Roque, executive president of Sindamar, the Santos Shipagents Association, told JOC.com. “The focus of the strike has been on the container terminals operating in the organized port [Codesp] area. The strike should not affect the private terminals that will continue working as normal. The invasion of a vessel is neither good for the reputation of Santos nor for Brazil.”
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Source: JOC
