The labour action in West Coast Canada is weighing down on the Canadian supply chain, with nearly $7.5 billion of cargo disrupted over 11 days of consecutive strikes. “$800 million in critical cargo, comprising 25% of Canada’s total traded goods have been compromised by ILWU Canada’s strike action,” said the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association in a press release Monday.

After rejecting a proposal by the employers to resolve the issues regarding maintenance work, the BCMEA said yesterday that the two sides returned again to the bargaining table “but no progress was made.”

In an attempt to put an end to the current situation, Canadian Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan, told ILWU Canada and the BCMEA, “After ten weeks of mediation, and two weeks of a strike that is paralyzing Canadian exports and imports, I have asked the senior federal mediator to supply me with terms of a recommended settlement pursuant to subsection 105(2) of the Canada Labour Code.”

The mediators have 24 hours to provide the ministry with a recommendation, which will then be sent to the parties for review. The two parties will then have 24 hours to communicate it to their respective members.

According to 11 July data provided by Vancouver Port, there are four container vessels at anchor outside the port. Two of the ships, namely the MSC Shanghai and Mount ASO, have been at anchor for more than a week. Seaexplorer data shows there are around 13 vessels scheduled to arrive in Vancouver in the upcoming two weeks.

The 7-day average waiting time of vessels at Prince Rupert Port jumped from nearly zero at the beginning of the labour action to reach 5.6 days on 12 July. Today’s data show, there are approximately 18,000 TEU of total blocked capacity outside Prince Rupert.