THE island's top egg producers came within a day of running out of feed for their 8,000 chickens because of delays at Hamilton Docks.

Malcolm Smith, who farms with his father C.H. (Bert) Smith at Windy Bank Farm in Smith's, said importers were suffering from dock delays which were totally beyond their control.

And the Smiths' problems could be indicative of forthcoming frustrations for many importing businesses, after new Corporation of Hamilton regulations ? limiting the number of containers allowed on the docks ? took effect two days ago.

The Smith's farm, as a supplier of imported animal feeds as well as a consumer of it, relies heavily on timely deliveries.

Its latest delivery arrived in Bermuda on the last Friday. But the farmer had to wait until Wednesday before he was able to pick up the container. One day longer and the Smiths would have had no feed for thousands of chickens.

And that could have resulted in a major financial blow for the farm that produces between 4,500 and 5,000 eggs per day.

"It's not the truckers and it's not the shipping companies ? the problem is at the docks," said Malcolm Smith. "We've only had problems like this before when workers have been on strike, but this has been building up for some time.

"This affects a lot of people, because we're not just supplying ourselves. We are also suppliers of feed for rabbits, goats and horses."

On average, the Smiths import three containers per month. Storing larger amounts of feed was not a viable option, said Mr. Smith.

"You can't over-stock at this time of year, because there are so many bugs and the feed goes mouldy in Bermuda's high humidity," he said.

The new Corporation of Hamilton regulations mean that, as from this Wednesday, if there are more than 750 containers on the dock when a ship is being unloaded, unloading will stop.

Bermuda Container Lines (BCL) warned last week that the regulations ? introduced in the interests of safety for dockworkers who have regularly been forced to work in cramped conditions ? would likely cause disruptions.

The BCL statement said: "Over the last few weeks, there have been many times when the number of containers has exceeded 750. Therefore we do anticipate significant disruptions to our operations and delays in our schedule."

The volume of cargo coming through the docks has increased dramatically this year, adding to the problem of congestion on the docks.

This week construction boss Stephen Moniz described his struggle at getting 105 containers off the docks. The co-owner of Island Construction blamed the delays on management at Stevedoring Services and the antiquated equipment in use at the docks.

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown last week said he wanted the docks moved from their Front Street location to an unnamed North Shore site to free up more of the Hamilton waterfront for tourism development.