“Brutal Decision”
Dover-Calais provider continues to cause frustration
03/21/2022, 16:04
At the end of last week, the main ferry operator between Dover and Calais announced that it would no longer serve the route “in the coming days”. It is now clear: tourists and logisticians must continue to be patient.
Following the mass layoff of its crews, British ferry operator P&O Ferries continues to suspend all services, including the Calais to Dover and Rotterdam to Hull routes. The services would not be carried out “in the next few days”, the market leader tweeted. Travelers should look for alternatives themselves. “The changes we are making to our crew model will reduce our crew costs by 50 percent,” the Daily Mirror quoted company boss Peter Hebblethwaite as saying.
P&O fired all 800 crew members on its ships on Friday. As justification, the company referred to the difficult financial situation and the need to protect the other 2,200 employees. Since then, the ferries have been in the ports. Some crews refused to abandon ship, the BBC reported. The PA news agency reported that handcuffed security forces were deployed to remove crew members.
“Insensitive and brutal”
Transport Minister Grant Shapps spoke of an “insensitive and brutal decision” and recalled that P&O had received short-time work benefits. The government said it would review its contracts with the company. But she also had to admit that her hands were tied. It is now about supporting those who have lost their jobs. The Federal Foreign Office had reacted to the surprising step and warned German travelers: “Ferry traffic with P&O Ferries between Dover and Calais is currently suspended. Very long waiting times and denied boarding are to be expected in both the United Kingdom and France.”
Temporary and unskilled workers, who are paid significantly less, are to take the place of the previous crews. But they must first be trained on the ships. Members of Parliament from the affected cities announced that the new ones were already ready when the ferries were surprisingly ordered into the ports on Thursday. The UK Chamber of Shipping said they were confident the replacement crew would be able to do the job with ease.
“Six lane highway at rush hour”
But unions warn that the new crews have no experience of the ferries and the routes. Nautilus International Secretary-General Mark Dickinson told the BBC that navigating ships through the English Channel is “like crossing a six-lane motorway at rush hour”.
The Northern Ireland Consumer Council said those affected could switch to another provider and charge additional costs to P&O. The company also operates a service from Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan in Scotland. Northern Ireland’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Gordon Lyons, promptly warned that more than half of freight deliveries to Northern Ireland pass through the port of Larne. Shops and companies could have supply problems. The fourth route usually offered is Dublin-Liverpool.
Before the pandemic, P&O carried more than 10 million passengers a year and around 15 per cent of freight to and from the UK. Due to the consequences of the corona pandemic, the company recently made losses of 100 million pounds a year.