P&O sacks 800 crew and cancels all sailings

All sailings have been cancelled and the entire UK fleet of crew members sacked by P&O Ferries, the passenger boat company owned by Dubai-based DP World, in a shock move on Thursday.

Seafarer union Nautilus International has reacted with anger at the news, urging crew to stay on board and calling the action ‘a betrayal of British workers’, as MP Karl Turner tweeted a photograph of the captain of The Pride of Hull addressing staff on the ship.

In a statement, P&O said its business was ‘no longer viable’, having made a £100 million (€118.5 million) loss year-on-year, which DP World has had to cover.

“This is not sustainable,” the company said. “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries. 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.”

“The news that P&O Ferries is sacking the crew across its entire UK fleet is a betrayal of British workers,” Nautilus said in a statement.

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

“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.”

DP World have not yet responded to our request for a comment.