According to the latest information from One Shipping: On Wednesday local time, Verdi, Germany's largest trade union of service industry, announced a 36-hour warning strike (from 17:30 on March 22 to 06:00 on March 24), which led to the disruption of navigation in the channel of the Port of Hamburg, Europe's second largest port, and disrupted port operations.

The Port of Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) announced that ships requiring a pilot will not be able to enter or leave the port from Wednesday morning, and that all vessels over 90 metres in length or 13 metres in width must have a pilot in order to navigate the port and along the Elbe River, according to port regulations.

The strike is expected to last until at least Friday morning, but once it is over, disruption and delays to shipping could last for days as port authorities need to clear the backlog.