Staff at the port of Marseilles returned to work this week after a dispute lasting two weeks which seriously disrupted traffic throughput at the French Mediterranean port.

The port authority said all of its terminals are open to traffic again including the fruit terminal.

However, Leon Vincent SA, a company specialising in logistics services for perishable goods said it will probably be a week before a return to normal in its activities.

"The scheduled weekly Monday port of call of an Agrexo Carmel Shipping vessel, which would have brought in 2,500 pallets made up of sweet potatoes, dates, melons, mangoes, prunes, grapefruit and watermelons was diverted to Port Vado (Italy) as the strike was still in force," a company official said.

As for containerised traffic, a vessel is expecting to enter the port later today ( Tuesday) and also on Wednesday with shipments of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas and mangoes.

"Around 4,000 pallets and 200-300 containers of fresh produce imports has been diverted from Marseilles due to the industrial action but we're hoping there'll be no lasting damage to the image of the port," the official added.

Topics