This week’s bulletin contains the latest information about Finland, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.
Finland
Start date: 15 February 2023
End date: ongoing
Incident: strike
The designated operator of Finland, Posti Ltd, wishes to inform that the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union (AKT) has announced a strike in the transportation sector from 15 February 2023. In addition, the Postal and Logistics Union (PAU) has announced that it will support the AKT strike with industrial action concerning the loading and unloading of trucks and trailers from 16 to 21 February 2023.
Consequently, Posti envisages the following delays:
- approximately 5 days for parcels and EMS items sent during the industrial action;
- 5–14 business days for letter-post items and magazines;
- approximately 5 days for long-distance deliveries requiring transportation with heavier equipment between cities in Finland;
- 5–14 business days for printed products distributed to the door or mailbox.
Posti estimates that operations will return to normal on 27 February 2023. Designated operators are asked to consider sending parcels and EMS items outside the industrial action period, when delays will be minimal.
If deliveries cannot be done owing to the strike, the items will be stored appropriately. Deliveries related to health and safety will not be affected by the industrial action.
New Zealand
Start date: 14 February 2023
End date: ongoing
Incident: cyclone Gabrielle
The designated operator of New Zealand, New Zealand Post, wishes to inform that a national state of emergency was declared on 14 February 2023 at 8.43 (local time) in response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Local states of emergency had previously been declared in the following regions and districts of the upper North Island: Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay.
Owing to the severity of this weather event and the scale of the emergency, the central government has taken over from the local authorities and is now managing the response in accordance with the Civil Defence Act.
The upper North Island is most severely affected, but significant impacts are forecast in the lower North Island and upper/central South Island. Weather warnings/watches are in place in the following areas: Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and other islands in the Hauraki Gulf, Coromandel, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Mount Taranaki, Wairarapa (including the Tararua district), Wellington, Horowhenua, Kapiti Coast, Turikirae Head to Mataikona, Marlborough, Nelson, areas south of Blenheim (including the Kaikoura Coast, Canterbury Plains and the foothills north of the Rakaia River) and the Chatham Islands.
In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its customers and staff, New Zealand Post has decided to implement the following measures:
- Suspension of all deliveries in red alert areas;
- Suspension of air network operations;
- Suspension of all line haul services to the Far North, Gisborne and Coromandel areas.
New Zealand Post is currently conducting an assessment and the situation is being monitored closely.
Saudi Arabia
Start date: 5 January 2023
End date: 30 January 2023
Incident: heavy rain
Further to Incident Bulletin 13.01.2023, the designated operator of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Post Corporation, wishes to inform that the electrical damage and IT issues caused by the heavy rainfall have now been resolved. All services have therefore resumed as normal with effect from 30 January 2023.
Türkiye
Start date: 6th February
End date: ongoing
Incident: earthquakes
Further to previous information on the subject, Turkish PTT Corporation, wishes to inform that, as a result of the two massive earthquakes (magnitude 7.7 and 7.6) that hit the southern and south-eastern regions of the country on 6 February 2023, the Turkish government has declared a state of emergency with effect from 8 February 2023. These devastating earthquakes have caused buildings to collapse and significant disruption to transport and travel in the affected areas. The most severely affected cities are Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa, as well as the surrounding districts and villages.
This has had and will have a major impact on operations and, consequently, on the quality of service for all types of inbound mail (letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items). As a result, service delivery standards cannot be guaranteed and delays are likely in the affected areas.
