Maersk asks customers to remove cargo before potential strike at US ports

Shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has urged customers to pick up their laden containers and return the empty ones at the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports before Jan. 15 to mitigate potential disruptions at the terminals on account of a strike.

"The conditional agreement on wages is set to expire on Jan. 15. If no agreement is reached by that date, a coast-wide strike on Jan. 16 is possible," according to an advisory on Maersk's website.

"The negotiations have had no new developments since our last communication," it said.

A strike would halt billions in trade and raise inflationary pressures while threatening the existing supply chains.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), a union with more than 45,000 members, and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) in October had agreed to a wage deal of a 62% hike over six years, ending a three-day strike.

But a threat of another strike looms large if the parties fail to reach a consensus over the unresolved decisions related to automation and its future at U.S. ports.

According to a Bloomberg News report, talks over the issue of automation have not appeared to be advancing, and neither the ILA nor USMX have indicated plans to return to the negotiating table before mid-January.