Splash Ports — 2026-11-05
Maritime and Ports
French ports are facing another round of industrial disruption, with a nationwide dockworkers’ strike today followed by a separate 24-hour walkout by harbour tug crews tomorrow.
The CGT’s National Federation of Ports and Docks has called for a 24-hour stoppage on Thursday, November 5, potentially affecting cargo operations at Le Havre, Marseille-Fos, Dunkirk, Rouen, Bordeaux and numerous smaller ports.
At Le Havre, France’s largest container gateway, the harbourmaster has warned that container terminals and movable port infrastructure will be disrupted from 6am today until 6am on Friday.
The Port of Calais has separately warned of significant disruption between 11am and 3pm, threatening delays to freight and passenger movements on the busy Dover-Calais ferry corridor.
The industrial action follows last Friday’s coordinated international dockworkers’ protests, which affected ports across Europe and beyond. French unions are demanding higher wages, stronger social protections and changes to the government’s proposed budget.
Further disruption is expected on Friday when maritime officers and tugboat crews stage a separate nationwide strike.< At Le Havre, the harbourmaster has warned that marine operations could be severely slowed between 8am Friday and 8am Saturday as tug crews withdraw their labour. The tugboat dispute is linked to concerns over the protection of France’s national shipping register and European regulatory policy.