Stena furloughs quarter of dock workers at Holyhead due to low freight traffic:

MOVE AFTER BIG SLUMP IN FREIGHT ‘TEMPORARY’

STENA Line has placed a quarter of its dock workers at Holyhead on furlough as Covid and Brexit hit demand for services.

The ferry giant has seen a slump in trade since January 1 due to several factors.

This includes the continued impact of the pandemic on passenger numbers, trade disruption due to Brexit and stockpiling in December.

It has seen some weekend services cancelled and this week the Stena Estrid will be replaced by the smaller Stena Horizon on the route.

This has sparked fears over the long term impact on Holyhead port (pictured) with a surge in trade on direct Ireland/EU mainland services and a switch by some operators to direct Belfast routes for goods to and from Northern Ireland.

Port officials remain calm about the situation with confidence that these are short term impacts exacerbated by the pandemic.

But they have taken the decision to temporarily reduce staff numbers dockside with a 25% cut in port services operators.

These workers – who help to dock vessels and the ferries to load and unload – have been placed on the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme.

They have not stated how many staff this impacts but it is understood the total number of Stena dockers at Holyhead is around the 100 mark.

The firm said other permanent staff are not affected.

The Welsh Government have expressed concern over the “very low” traffic at Holyhead following the UK’s exit from the EU.

Minister for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates said contingency plans for queuing at the port would be scaled back over the coming weeks.

“Freight levels are currently very low at the port,” he said. “While we expected levels to be low at the start of the year, it is concerning that they continue to be reduced.

“I have written to the UK Government to ask what their plan is to reverse this and how they will support the communities affected. This situation is as a direct result of the choices they made on how we left the EU.

“We will be monitoring the situation very closely.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “Freight levels across all UK ports, not just Welsh ports, have been lower as anticipated at the beginning of this year, but flows are steadily increasing and we expect this to continue in the coming weeks.

“We are confident that Holyhead and the other Welsh ports will continue to thrive. Their best days are ahead as we build on the opportunities of being an independent trading nation.”