P&O Ferries: Who owns the company and why has it sacked its UK staff?

Shipping firm sparks sit-in protests after sudden dismissal of 800 British seafaring employees

British shipping company P&O Ferries has announced that it is making 800 of its UK seafaring staff redundant, prompting sit-in protests by those affected aboard its vessels on the advice of union representatives.

A spokesman for P&O, which is owned by Emirati logistics giant DP World, insisted the company had no choice but to replace its British employees with cheaper foreign labour, stating: “In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business.

“We have made a £100m loss year-on-year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”

They continued: “These circumstances have resulted in a very difficult but necessary decision, which was only taken after seriously considering all the available options.

“As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices and will be compensating them for this lack of advance notice with enhanced compensation packages.

“In making this tough decision, we are securing the future viability of our business which employs an additional 2,200 people and supports billions in trade in and out of the UK.”

Crew members were reportedly briefed about the loss of their jobs via a Microsoft Teams meeting, where it was explained they would be replaced by agency staff on inferior contracts.

A woman whose husband and son both lost their jobs told the PA they had been given just five minutes to pack up their belongings, clear their lockers and leave the ship on which they worked to make way for their successors.

The Department of Transport said it is due to meet with P&O bosses later on Thursday to “understand more about the changes and the impact on staff and passengers”.

Responding to the development, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We have instructed our members to remain onboard and are demanding our members across P&O’s UK operations are protected and that the secretary of state intervenes to save UK seafarers from the dole queue.”

Mark Dickinson, general secretary of maritime union Nautilus International, was equally affronted, calling the move “a betrayal of British workers”.

“It is nothing short of scandalous given that this Dubai-owned company received millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money during the pandemic,” he said.

“There was no consultation and no notice given by P&O. Be assured the full resources of Nautilus International stand ready to act in defence of our members. We believe it is in our members’ best interests to stay onboard until further notice.”

P&O halted all sailings on Thursday morning while rumours of a “major announcement” spread, causing chaos at the ports of Dover and Calais, with lorry drivers forced to queue on either side of the English Channel and complaining about the lack of information being made available to explain what was going on.

“More than anything I’m frustrated at the fact nobody from P&O was there to help and advise,” one long-haul driver told the PA, claiming he had been waiting since 6am. “I’ve never had such shoddy service from anybody.”

He continued: “I’ve had to exit the port and go through the entire process again, not to mention paying for another ticket at a higher price. I would have appreciated somebody at least telling us what to do.”

Protesting crew members in Dover reportedly later clashed with motorists as they stood in the road with banners and flags reading, “Stop the P&O Jobs carve up”.

In East Yorkshire, Labour MP Karl Turner tweeted a photograph of a coach which he said contained a “new foreign crew waiting to board the Pride of Hull” at King George Dock, Hull, who were being prevented from entering the ship by staff protesting the sudden redundancy notice.

The captain of that vessel has reportedly drew up the gangplanks and refused to allow police or anyone else aboard the ship, which makes regular journeys to the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and back.

However, the crew are now leaving the ship after the standoff with P&O came to an end.

RMT organiser for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Gaz Jackson said the crew were “absolutely devastated” and described P&O’s actions as “unacceptable” and “unforgivable”.

He said negotiations had come to an end when the company agreed to provide paperwork requested by the union.

P&O was founded as the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company on 22 August 1837, so-called because it was originally a shipping line dedicated to providing passage to Spain and Portugal (specifically the ports of Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon and Cadiz on the Iberinan Peninsula) and to Alexandria in Egypt.

Mail delivery contracts were the basis for much of P&O’s business throughout the heyday of the British Empire but its passenger arm thrived in the 20th century, particularly along its route to Australia, which it first sailed in 1922.

P&O began offering ferry services to continental Europe in the 1960s, operating in the North Sea and between Dover and Calais, which continued to expand and develop towards the end of the century.

These were continued after the company was acquired by DP World in 2006.