P&O ferry detained in Northern Ireland for being ‘unfit to sail’

Company ‘will not be able to rush inexperienced crew through training’, says transport secretary

A P&O ferry has been detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Northern Ireland over apparent “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training”.

A statement from the agency said the vessel would remain under detention “until all these issues are resolved” by the company.

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 familiarisation, 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.’’

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said the ship had been impounded at the port for allegedly 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,” the cabinet minister tweeted.

Mr Shapps had earlier said the chief executive of P&O Ferries should resign after his “brazen” and “breathtaking” comments about “knowingly breaking the law”.

P&O ‘European Causeway’ ferry docked at Larne Port (PA)

The chief executive of P&O Ferries, Peter Hebblethwaite, admitted the company broke employment law when it sacked 800 workers without notice last week in order to replace its crews with cheaper agency workers.

The European Causeway entered service in 2000, replacing the Pride of Rathlin, according to the P&O Ferries website.

“Specifically designed for our Cairnryan to Larne route, she has not operated elsewhere and has only been taken out of service if she needs a refit,” the company’s website said.

Peter Hebblethwaite answering questions in front of the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in the House of Commmons (PA)

In Larne, the local mayor of the Mid and East Antrim Council, William McCaughey, said they would support the reinstatement of the staff immediately.

“It is ridiculous what P&O has done to the staff, we in Larne would be very keen to see staff reinstated, it is the least that P&O could do,” he said.

The RMT union said it welcomed the detention of the European Causeway and it demanded the government “seize the entire fleet” of P&O vessels.

General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The seizing of the European Causeway by the MCA tonight shows that the gangster capitalist outfit P&O are not fit and proper to run a safe service after the jobs massacre.

“This mob should be barred, their ships impounded and the sacked crews reinstated to get these crucial ferry routes back running safely.”

Karl Turner, the Labour MP for East Hull, called for every one of P&O’s vessels to be “fully inspected immediately”.

Two P&O ferries moored at the Port of Dover (Getty Images)

Mr Hebblethwaite, whose basic annual salary is £325,000, revealed that the average hourly pay of the new crew is only £5.50. The minimum wage in the UK for people aged 23 and over is £8.91 per hour.

Mr Shapps said the government is planning to change the law to ensure companies working from British ports pay people the minimum wage, as he condemned P&O for “evilly exploit(ing)” loopholes.

He said the move from the government would force a “U-turn on what’s happened at P&O”.