Syrian war leaves Astran drivers stranded in Turkey
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By Christopher Walton MIDDLE EAST haulage specialist Astran says its drivers have experienced delays of up to 10 days because of rerouting caused by the civil unrest in Syria.
The Maidstone-based international haulier tells CM that there are backlogs of trucks building up in Turkey, awaiting ferries to Egypt, as the Syrian boarder is closed to transiting trafic.
Director Kevin Letham says: “The only problem is that there used to be about 100 trucks per day transiting Syria and now most are trying to take the ferry to Egypt, which only sails twice a week and takes about 70 trucks. They refuse to use a booking system. At the moment it is on a irst-come, irst-served basis.” This hasn’t been the only delay – Astran trucks have also been forced to wait for a ferry between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Letham says the trucks have now cleared Customs and are on their way to deliver valves to the oilields in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
“We have been informed that the Turkish ferry companies will be putting on two more ferries this month, as this now seems to be the safest route from Turkey through to the Arab states. Hopefully the delay will be reduced in the next trips we make,” he adds.
“We were the only UK trucks on this new route. Astran – still the pioneers!” • CM will run pictures taken by Astran drivers on the last transit of Syria in a future issue.