France has temporarily closed its ports to ro/ro ferry
traffic from the UK, one of dozens of measures taken by national governments to
prevent the spread of a mutated variant of COVID-19 that has emerged in
southern England. Based upon modeling, British scientists believe that the
variant may be as much as 70 percent more infectious than the base version of
the virus.
The cross-channel ferry closure has stranded thousands of
trucks and cargo shipments outside of Britain's key ro/ro terminal, the Port of
Dover. During the holiday season in any other year, about 10,000 trucks would
normally pass through the port each day on their way between the UK and France.
On Monday, thousands of trucks were stacking up on the M20
motorway outside of Dover as local police work to manage a flood of stalled
freight. The UK Department for Transport (DfT) is preparing space at a nearby
airport in Kent, where it expects to accept up to 4,000 trucks for temporary
storage.
"Accompanied freight and passenger customers are asked
not to travel to the port," the Port of Dover said in an alert Sunday.
"Unaccompanied [freight] traffic continues to be allowed into France . . .
All traffic into the UK is currently unaffected by those restrictions (subject
to pre-existing travel constraints for tourists)."
The shutdown is limited to 48 hours, but this could be
enough to affect perishables, according to hauliers.
"The fresh food supply, where it's short shelf life and
there will be product on its way now, that's where the challenge comes
from," said UK Road Haulage Association head Richard Burnett, speaking to
theBBC. "The retailers will absolutely be assessing their inbound flows
this morning."
The Port of Newhaven, which hosts one ferry connection to
Dieppe, reported Monday that it has not experienced freight traffic congestion
despite the shutdown for outbound truck movement. At the Port of Portsmouth,
port officials said that they were keeping operations running smoothly by
disconnecting the freight trailer from the semi truck, sending the cargo on its
way across the Channel without the driver. "We have the ability to put the
trailer onboard without the cab, which is something they cannot do in
Dover," Portsmouth City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson told local
media. "So we are continuing to send lorries across to France, when Dover
cannot."
Lift-on / lift-off containerized freight and breakbulk
operations also continue uninterrupted between the UK and France.