A second P&O ferry, namely the “Pride of Kent”, is being detained after failing the safety checks.
It is important to recall that on Friday 25, another ship operated by P&O Ferries 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 familiarization, vessel documentation and crew training”, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
This situation is happening while the company fired almost 800 seafarers, 2 weeks ago, bringing chaos to many country’s ports. Currently, a second P&O Ferries vessel is being detained while the UK Government is giving P&O Ferries a “last chance to do the right thing” and reverse its decision to fire the 800 crewmembers.
As informed, surveyors from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency were aboard the Pride of Kent, a 30-year-old Ro/Ro run by P&O Ferries. The 30,600 gross ton ferry is part of the fleet operating from Dover on the route to Calais, France, the company’s busiest route.
The ferry was being prepared to undergo sea trials with its replacement crew in order to restart service on the route by the end of this week.
According to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, it was asked to permit the vessel to go to sea without passengers or freight, however its surveyors had determined to detain the vessel due to unspecified violations.
It’s rare enough for the MCA to impound a ferry but P&O have now had two in a week after the jobs carve up which speaks volumes about the dire state of their operation
…said Mick Lynch General Secretary of National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
It’s now high time for these important vessels to be taken over under public control with the sacked crews reinstated as the only way to get these crucial ferry routes back running safely
…Mick Lynch continued.
The UK Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, said that the company could still take back the employees that were fired, giving the company one further opportunity to change its decision.
Grant Shapps along with the Parliament promised to move as quickly as possible, while the government asks the competitors to increase service in advance of the spring holidays.
Following the company’s decision to fire its employees, the UK British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he believed that the Dubai-owned British ferry company broke the law and that the government would take legal actions. However, the company will not compromise, saying also that it would welcome the government’s efforts to level the playing field among the ferry operations.
Even Peter Hebblethwaite, P&O Ferries CEO, admitted that the company broke the law in full knowledge of its actions and highlighting that he would make the same decision again.
