Disruptions and delays to express services are continuing throughout parts of the Middle Eastand North Africa, as a result of the ongoing political unrest or conflict in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen
and Syria, and the knock-on effects of past disturbances in other parts of the region.In Libya, DHL, TNT, UPS and FedEx services remain suspended due to the conflict.
DHL, whose main Middle East express hub is in Bahrain, is understood to have faced operationalchallenges in Bahrain in recent weeks. CEP-Research understands that during the first wave ofpolitical protests there several weeks ago, some staff did not show up for work, and managers andother available staff were brought in to help do the sorting.
A DHL spokeswoman said: “DHL continues to transport shipments to and from Bahrain, despite thecurrent situation. DHL Hub operations at the airport and Service Centers continue to operate withrestrictions, while complying with guidelines and rules applied by Bahrain authorities. Pick-up anddelivery services as well as the road network continue to operate. However many areas remainchallenging to access due to increased security measures and some delay can be expected. We aremonitoring the situation closely and will update our customers as appropriate.”
Regarding Libya, she added: “The office in Tripoli remains opens to support customer shipmentpick-up and drop-off services. International door-to-door pick-up and deliveries have beensuspended due to security concerns. We are monitoring the situation closely and will update ourcustomers as appropriate.”
FedEx said it was currently experiencing service delays in Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Tunisia. “For Bahrain, FedEx Express is now accepting shipments at certain safe locations in Bahrain,” aspokeswoman told CEP-Research. “Shipments bound for Bahrain are also accepted, but without anyguarantee on the time of delivery. Despite the improved situation, we anticipate some delays inpick-up and delivery operations in Bahrain. We are closely monitoring the situation in all affectedcountries, and, where appropriate, we have operational contingency plans in place to minimiseservice delays.”
UPS said the presence or extent of delays and disruptions to shipments in the region at themoment may “vary from day to day, and from country to country, based on civil unrest or designatedcurfews”. A spokeswoman added: “We suspended pickup and delivery service in Bahrain onMonday, but we had volume moving into the country and customers could collect or drop off from ourcentres. We rely on the operating plans for our authorised service contractors in these countries.”& amp; lt; /p>
A spokesman for TNT said the majority of shipments that would normally transit via its Bahrainhub have been rerouted to their final destination, “and we are working on the remainder with theresources available”. He added: “In Bahrain, the situation remains volatile. Shops and banksreopened in the business district on Sunday and Monday, but with restricted hours of access. Peoplehave to go through security checkpoints when going to work, which makes it difficult for some ofour employees to arrive on time. TNT has resumed clearance, pick-up and delivery activities forurgent shipments to secure areas, and will carry out these activities as long as the situation iscalm and safe for our staff.”
TNT said its operations in Egypt had returned to normal “quite quickly” after the uprising,although there had been an continued impact on traffic levels there, as with Tunisia, because of “time lost and the gradual recovery of the business environment”. A spokesman added: “In Tunisia,operationally speaking, the situation is back to normal, which allows us to resume our developmentprojects where we left them in January. The main impact is the slow recovery of one of our agents,whose premises got looted during the events.” TNT Express said it was not taking shipments out ofYemen for the time being.
Following violent disturbances during the last few days, further civil unrest was expected todayin Bahrain, Yeman and Syria, although the size and impact of these was unclear at the time ofwriting.
