Bosuns and Seamen Call Strike Against Iceland’s Eimskip
Eimskip, a niche shipping company based in Iceland that maintains service connecting Iceland and the Faroe Islands to Europe, reports it has received a strike notice from the Seafarers’ Union of Iceland. Contract negotiations have been ongoing since the old agreement expired at the end of the year, and if the strike proceeds on May 25, it would impact three of the company’s fleet of 13 ships as well as 40 percent of its staffing at the Eimskip Sundahöfn terminal located in Reykjavík, the largest port of Iceland.
The bosuns and able seamen on the company’s three owned vessels, including the sisterships Brúarfoss and Dettifoss, are set to work off the job according to the notice. The ships, which were built in 2020, each have a capacity of 2,200 TEU and are used for the route between Aarhus, Helsingborg, Bremerhaven, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, shared with Royal Arctic Line (RAL). In addition, the crew on the smaller vessel Selfoss (698 TEU), which runs weekly service to the Faroes and bi-weekly to Poland, would also be impacted.
Eimskip has a total fleet of thirteen vessels with a mix of containerships and reefer vessels. Six are owned by the company and seven chartered, operating scheduled services on five different routes.
Media reports suggest the talks are stalled on wages and also on job security for the Icelandic seafarers. According to the newspapers, the situation is complicated by a series of offshore companies outside Iceland that employ the crews and operate some of the vessels.
The seafarers had announced a three-day temporary strike planned for April 12, but it was withdrawn on April 8 when the company asserted it was unlawful. The following day, the dispute was referred to the state mediator.
Eimskip in May told investors it was important that no negotiations exceed collective agreements in the general labor market. It asserts it is negotiating responsibly and still hopes that an agreement will be reached to avoid the planned strikes.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
The port workers had previously announced a planned strike for April 13. It was postponed until May 26 and is scheduled to continue to May 28.
The chair of the union told the local newspapers in Iceland that a strike seems unavoidable. The company says a strike would affect the sailing schedules of its vessels and service levels. It expects delays and backlogs at the terminal in Reykjavík.