A UK-based global car manufacturer with annual sales of approximately 360,000 vehicles to more than 170 markets, which collects and delivers material to its point of use from over 1,000 supplier locations (using multiple modes of transport) faces the following situation: The UK port at late notice had to close operations due to severe weather and as a result the expected importing of sea-freight containers into a UK port is at danger. You are leading the Inbound Logistics team and you have been asked to take actions to mitigate the impact of this relatively unexpected event. 

After briefly describing the limitations of multi-modal transport for this particular company discuss the possible solutions (both short-term immediate actions and long-term ones) to overcome this particular problem.