Port measures Hong Kong dock workers' strike at 90 ships
Operator estimates impact of dockers' walkout on cargo arrivals if action continues to April 21
A total of 90 vessels are expected to have bypassed the Kwai Tsing container terminals run by the strike-hit port operator if the walkout lasts until April 21, the company says.
Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) also said that with more dockers returning to work, the daily financial loss it suffered had dropped from HK$5 million when the strike started on March 28 to HK$2.4 million last Friday.
But one of the strike organisers, Chan Chiu-wai, said he disagreed with HIT's claim, saying its financial losses remained large since only about 20 out of 500 dockers had returned to work.
A spokeswoman for HIT said 90 vessels were expected to have skipped its terminals if the strike lasted until April 21. She did not say how many vessels were expected to actually arrive at HIT's terminals during this period.
She also said that since HIT won an injunction forcing striking dockers out of the terminals on Monday last week, the daily financial loss had been "reduced significantly", to HK$2.4 million as of last Friday.
"The situation has improved further over the last few days," she said. "We are now operating at about 80 per cent of usual operating levels and are making steady improvements. An increasing number of strikers are returning to work."
