FORWARDERS who suffered costs as a result of the disruption to operations at the Port of Felixstowe following the introduction of a new operating system in June have been told not to expect compensation
FORWARDERS who suffered costs as a result of the disruption to operations at the Port of Felixstowe following the introduction of a new operating system in June have been told not to expect compensation. This follows complaints that Hong Kong's Hutchison's Port Holdings' rollout of the Felixstowe's new terminal operating system had caused severe transit delays last month.
'Having had a meeting with the port's senior management, it is clear that the only companies that might receive any compensation are shipping lines,' said Robert Keen, director general of the British International Freight Association (BIFA).
'The port authority has made it clear to us that it does not consider BIFA members to be direct customers of the port, and would not be willing to have a discussion about possible compensation for the damage caused and the increased costs that have been incurred by those members,' he said, reported the American Journal of Transportation.
'It is astonishing that a port authority, which owns the UK's busiest container port and has been happy to market it as the 'Port of Britain', implemented a new and vitally important system with apparently no fall-back position if it went wrong.
'And it is very disappointing that it is not even prepared to discuss any kind of compensation for such a failure in customer service,' said Mr Keen.
