P&O Ferries ship seized in Dover over safety concerns CAN sail again
P&O Ferries Spirit of Britain ship seized over safety concerns CAN sail again: Disgraced company attempts to resume normal operations after it sacked 800 seafarers
- P&O Ferries vessel Spirit of Britain which was detained over safety concerns can now sail again
- MCA said that the 700ft long ship ‘can commence operations when P&O Ferries are ready’
- The ship’s detention at the Port of Dover sparked travel hell for holidaymakers at Easter
- A total of eight P&O Ferries vessels have been probed by the MCA since 800 seafarers were sacked
One of P&O Ferries’ biggest cross-Channel ships that had been seized in Dover over safety concerns has now been cleared to sail, as the disgraced company attempts to resume normal operations after sacking nearly 800 employees.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said that the 700ft long Spirit of Britain, which can carry up to 2,000 passengers and was the first of two ‘Spirit’ class ships built for P&O Ferries, ‘has been released from detention and can commence operations when P&O Ferries are ready’.
The ship’s detention at the Port of Dover, along with that of the Pride Of Kent vessel, caused a shortage of ferry capacity in the run-up to Easter on the key Dover-Calais crossing and sparked massive queues of lorries on coastbound roads in Kent.
A total of eight P&O Ferries vessels have been probed by the MCA since P&O Ferries sensationally fired nearly 800 seafarers with no notice via a Zoom video call last month – an action even the operator’s millionaire boss Peter Hebblethwaite admitted was illegal in testimony to MPs – and replaced them with cheaper £5.50-an-hour foreign agency workers.
The Spirit of Britain had been held earlier this month and P&O Ferries were requested to fix ‘a number of’ safety issues raised by the assessment before the MCA carried out a second inspection.
The MCA said it began assessing European Highlander on Thursday and Norbay on Wednesday. The European Highlander, which normally operates between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland, will be allowed to resume voyages once a ‘small number of deficiencies’ are fixed.
A third vessel called the Norbay, which serves the Liverpool-Dublin route, was also cleared to sail earlier yesterday, the MCA added.
P&O Ferries the Pride of Kent (left) and the Spirit of Britain (right) moored at the Port of Dover in Kent, April 22, 2022
P&O Ferries the Pride of Canterbury (left) and the Spirit of Britain (right) moored at the Port of Dover in Kent, April 22, 2022
Freight lorries queue at the Port of Dover, after the ferry company sacked 800 workers without notice, April 12, 2022
On Tuesday, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the company of being a ‘rogue operator’ which is ‘cutting corners and putting key UK shipping routes at risk’.
P&O Ferries said in a statement that ‘any suggestion’ that safety is being compromised is ‘categorically false’.
P&O Ferries caused mayhem at Easter after it suspended all of its passenger services across the Channel ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
Announcing the cancelling of Dover-Calais services, a spokesperson for P&O Ferries said: ‘We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail.
‘It is only fair and right that we make alternative arrangements for those customers, which include transferring them onto our Hull-Europoort service to Rotterdam, or booking them onto services with Brittany Ferries between Portsmouth and Caen.
‘Both of these options are at no extra cost to customers – if anyone chooses either of these alternatives we will reimburse them for any additional mileage expenses incurred and as well as all meals onboard our overnight crossing. Customers will also receive a 25 per cent discount on their original fare.
Freight lorries queue at the Port of Dover, after the ferry company sacked 800 workers without notice, April 12, 2022
People protest through Dover in Kent, after P&O Ferries sacked 800 workers without notice, Tuesday April 19, 2022
‘We also recognise that these options will not be suitable for everyone, therefore any customer who booked directly with P&O Ferries will be able to claim a full refund and a free trip for future travel.’
It comes as several P&O Ferries agency staff were fired after testing positive for alcohol when they turned up for work.
Seven of the new workers, who were employed to replace permanent staff dismissed by the firm last month, were relieved of their duties after breaching guidelines on alcohol consumption. The agency staff returned to work on board a ferry over the limit, after leaving the ship for shore leave.
They were dismissed with immediate effect by P&O, which has a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol.
The crew were controversially replaced with cheaper agency workers, whose average hourly rate of pay is around £5.50 – significantly lower than the UK minimum wage, which stands at £8.91.
Because P&O operates internationally and its ships are registered overseas, the minimum hourly rate does not apply to its new staff.
Several unions questioned the legality of making so many staff redundant and raised fears over a lack of training of the new crew.
P&O has since confirmed that seven of its agency-employed seafarers have been dismissed with immediate effect after breaking alcohol consumption regulations.
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