The Irish Exporters Association has expressed fears that Irish Ferries could close its routes on the Irish Sea with the loss of almost a quarter of freight capacity off the island.
Chief Executive John Whelan said that in common with other industry sectors, outsourcing had to be taken into consideration by both unions and companies in a bid to remain competitive.
He said that in the event of a strike at Irish Ferries, exporters would be badly affected - particularly in the run up to Christmas.
However, in the longer term, he pointed out that Irish Ferries could conceivably achieve a greater return on capital from leasing the company's vessels to other operators elsewhere in the world.
He pointed out that there is already a difficulty with freight capacity since P&O Ferries left the Irish Sea route.
Yesterday, Irish Ferries rejected a Labour Court recommendation vetoing its plans to replace 543 Irish staff with cheaper agency workers from overseas.
It still has not indicated when or whether it intends to implement the planned redundancies.
