DUBAI/KUWAIT, Oct 10, (Agencies): All vessel traffic in and out of Kuwaiti ports is halted and oil tanker traffic has stopped on Monday as Kuwait customs union went on a strike, two shipping sources based in Kuwait said.
“All vessel movements in and out of Kuwaiti ports are suspended,” a shipping source said, adding that at least five oil tankers were waiting to depart from Mina Al-Ahmadi port, which handles the bulk of Kuwait’s oil exports.
Kuwait is among the world’s top crude oil exporters with biggest customers mostly from Asia. It has a 930,000 barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity.
“No vessel, oil tanker or bulk carrier, can depart without customers clearance. They can’t enter Kuwait either,” a second shipping source said.
The country has two commercial ports, Shuwaikh and Shuaiba, and two other oil terminals, apart from the largest Mina Al-Ahmadi, which is also home to its biggest refinery.
Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) is trying to secure staff not taking part in the strike, in order to complete clearance documents for the shipments, an oil official said.
The customs union pledged to continue the strike as long as its demands are met.
“Any commercial shipment, coming via air, land or sea has been suspended... the strike will continue until our demands are met,” Ahmed al-Enezi, the head of Kuwait’s customs union told Reuters.
Customs employees are demanding a pay raise and improved work conditions, Ajmi said, adding that workers have already rejected an offer by the customs chief, Ibrahim al-Ghanem, to meet their demands if they called off the strike.
Kuwait has been hit by a spate of industrial action in the public sector, which employes close to 80 percent of the 360,000-strong workforce of Kuwaiti nationals.
The country has about 1.7 million foreign workers, mostly employed by the private sector.
The industrial actions escalated last month after the government increased the salaries of oil workers at a cost of more than $500 million a year, bowing to strike threats in the key revenue earning sector.
Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali has said that the public sector wage bill has more than doubled over the past decade.
Government spending has tripled since 2005 to a record $71 billion, with public sector salaries estimated to account for at least a third of total expenditures.
The Gulf state, which counts 1.2 million Kuwaiti nationals, offers a cradle-to-grave welfare system with public services and fuel offered either free or at heavily subsidised prices, and no taxes.