CAPECA targeted the Single Union of Patagonian Port Stevedores for extortion

The Chamber of Fishing and Freezer Shipowners of Argentina (CAPECA) reported that the repeated strikes in Desired Port They harm the sector and could cause said port to lose its international qualification.

For several months, the companies that make up the Chamber of Fishing and Freezer Shipowners of Argentina (CAPECA) They have been suffering numerous direct action measures by the Single Union of Patagonian Port Stevedores (SUEPP).

For example, the last of them consisted of having left a merchant ship in the middle of unloading and preventing exportable cargo from being loaded, which is why the shipping company Maersk logistics decided to cast off and withdraw from Puerto Deseado. This causes severe damage to foreign trade, precisely in an international context in which there is not much availability of containers or frequencies interested in adding circuits to the southern cone.

To graph it in numbers, Ivan Maurimanager of Pesquera Santa Cruz (Iberconsa Group)reported that none of the 89 containers that were planned were loaded, of which 21 belonged to their company. Meanwhile, of the 140 empty pieces of equipment, only 64 could be unloaded. This causes an operational impediment, since there are no containers to consolidate merchandise at the port. “We suffered the same situation last year and we had commitments with clients and we had to take it by land to another port. That operation, at that time, cost US$150,000. Today the logistics to transport the merchandise by land to another port would be around 250,000,” he noted.

Regarding the union conflict, he expressed: “They have been in mandatory conciliation since November 8, which they did not comply with. The government should take legal measures, because Maersk said that, if the legal conditions are not met, it would not operate in Puerto Deseado.”.

For its part, Eduardo Vierageneral manager of See Argentinaalso described how this affected his company. The businessman assured that he had US$1,100,000 of exports, between shrimp and squid. By not being able to load the merchandise, it implied a delay in collections from its clients of at least twenty days. If a new ship arrives soon, if we have to look for alternatives the delay will be greater. Meanwhile, leaving the merchandise that is detained at the port has a cost of $61 per container per day.

In addition to the delay, Viera indicated that this situation generates a bad image of the company with its customers because the merchandise is not delivered on time.. And, in turn, he stressed that it is also the country that is affected in this sense since the conflict they have in this aspect is continuous, which affects these clients who little by little are losing their confidence in doing operations with the companies. of the area.

On the other hand, they face the problem of losing the only line that works in Puerto Deseado since the costs of not being able to carry out a load for them are also unacceptable and it would be dramatic if Puerto Deseado could lose this service that Maersk currently offers.

“The stevedores do not impede with measures of direct force, but they do not work either and they let orders pass through. These are years of many conflicts with stevedoring and they have crazy orders, because they have rates higher than inflation in recent years,” he emphasized. And he concluded: “The stevedoring service is very expensive in Desired Port and it is not consistent with the service we receive. A few dockworkers believe they are the owners of the port and they affect the entire town. We must take care of those of us who invest and generate employment in Desired Port. This discourages activity and it is unacceptable that it continues to happen. As entrepreneurs we have the obligation to generate better conditions for our workers and for the community and this has to be accompanied by common sense on the part of all the actors who are part of the activities and I believe that in this case it has been lost (as in other occasions) this focus.”

Likewise, there were also companies – such as Pesquera Veraz – that, faced with these inconveniences, decided to transport containers by land to Madryn, which implies an extra expense.

Specifically, this causes a great economic loss for the activity. For all these reasons, we inform the public of the serious situation in Puerto Deseado caused by SUEPP’s way of operating. CAPECA urgently needs to comply with the minimum standards of coexistence, respect for the law and the social peace necessary to work and produce.