A ship operated by P&O Ferries, a Dubai-owned British ferry company, has been detained in Northern Ireland for being “unfit to sail”.
The European Causeway vessel has been held in Larne due to “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training”, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he will not compromise the safety of P&O vessels and insisted that the company will not be able to rush training for inexperienced people.
Following my instruction to inspect all P&O vessels prior to entering back into service, the @MCA_Media has detained a ship for being unfit to sail. I will not compromise the safety of these vessels and P&O will not be able to rush inexperienced crew through training.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 25, 2022
It is important to recall that the he company has fired almost 800 seafarers, facing a barrage of criticism by many stakeholders.
In light of the detention, a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said:
We can confirm that the European Causeway has been detained in Larne. It has been detained due to failures on crew familiarization, vessel documentation and crew training. The vessel will remain under detention until all these issues are resolved by P&O Ferries. Only then will it be reinspected.
According to the MCA there were no passengers or freight on board the European Causeway vessel when it was detained.
In Larne, the local mayor of the Mid and East Antrim Council, William McCaughey, said they would support the reinstatement of the staff immediately.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh wrote on Twitter:
The trained, experienced, loyal crew should be reinstated. And the Chief Executive should be barred as a director. The shameful misconduct of P&O Ferries has ruined livelihoods, and is harming the UK’s key shipping routes
The trained, experienced, loyal crew should be reinstated.
And the Chief Executive should be barred as a director.
The shameful misconduct of P&O Ferries has ruined livelihoods, and is harming the UK’s key shipping routes. https://t.co/j47nAA9UNu
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) March 25, 2022
