The good ship Neptune Jade sailed into Oakland on the Pacific on the 30th September. Its load of 160 containers included seven from Thamesport. 32 hours later it sailed away, complete with its undischarged load.
By October 4th the boat was in Vancouver, in Canada. The company hoped that the ship could be unloaded there and the goods sneaked over the border to the States. But again the boat had to leave without unloading.
At both ports, supporters of the Liverpool dockers had picketed despite legal threats and dockworkers had refused to cross the picket lines. The company clearly reads the web sites supporting the dockers and tried to put messages on them, without success, but later claimed that Neptune Jade and Thamesport had nothing to do with the Mersey docks. But information available on the Web distributed by Lloyds shows clearly that Medway Ports, which is 100 percent owned by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, is the Port Authority for Thamesport. Neptune Jade, which is registered in Singapore, is listed as a Hapag Lloyd service, which is in a container trade alliance with the Jade’s owners. Hapag Lloyd has direct links with Liverpool.
Following the terrific solidarity action by dock workers and others in the States and Canada, the Jade had to set sail for Yokohama, in Japan, with the containers still on board. The pickets were clear that it was a “scab ship filled by scab labour and we’re stopping it”.
Both in Yokohama on October 15th and two days later in Kobe port, although a number of containers were unloaded these did not include the seven scab containers which were still on board when the Jade sailed on to Kaoshiung.