Yesterday’s industrial action also caused disruption at Hamilton Docks where the majority of stevedores did not go to work.

As a result of the protest the container ship Somers Isles left Bermuda with just a quarter of her empty containers yesterday at 4pm.

This is expected to cause significant congestion on the docks in the coming week.

Joe Simas, vice president of the Meyer Group of Companies told The Royal Gazette: “Somers Isles had only 34 containers loaded when she sailed.

“By leaving over 100 containers behind, the vessel’s next call in two weeks there will be over 200 containers to load. This along with the other lines’ containers will cause major congestion on docks.”

Warren Jones, CEO of Polaris Holding Company Ltd, which runs Stevedoring Services, confirmed that the majority of staff did not work yesterday and the firm was therefore unable to provide a service.

He added: “There was no disruption to the unloading of the Somers Isles or Bermuda Islander this week.

“The Bermuda Islander was completed on Thursday and sailed on time yesterday morning. The Somers Isles was unloaded on Wednesday and the impact of Friday’s action was that the Somers Isles sailed without a full load of empties.”