Port of Calais closed again

Chaos at Calais - about 100 striking workers led to the suspension of the Calais - Dover ferry lines operation and Eurotunnel rail services blockade.

Today, following a blockade of tracks by strikers, Eurotunnel suspended their activities for security reasons. Sailings between Dover and the French port are also suspended while ferries to Dunkirk operate according to schedule.

Around 30 MyFerryLink employees set fire to tyres inside the Eurotunnel, they also tried to dismantle the railway tracks while trains were operating.

MyFerryLink workers started striking last week after parent company Eurotunnel announced it had sold the cross channel service following a competition authority ruling to rival operator DFDS. A group of ferry workers represented by the Syndicat Maritime Nord union also opposes DFDS' plans to hire just 202 MyFerryLink workers co-operative out of a total of 580 to crew the vessels, saying the number is too small.
Increased strike action lasts from yesterday causing - for the second time in a week - the closure of the port of Calais.

Kent Police warned that the port of Calais would be closed until Thursday and Eurotunnel defines the situation as "grim", particularly for freight traffic. Pending in massive tailbacks truck drivers are exposed to attacks on lorries and threatened their drivers by migrants - they are trying to get to the other side of the canal taking advantage of the gridlock.