P&O ship deemed 'unfit to sail' and detained for 'staff training failures'

25 March 2022, 21:59 | Updated: 25 March 2022, 23:13

The European Causeway has been detained days after safety concerns were raised as a result of P&O sacking all their staff and replacing them with agency workers
The European Causeway has been detained days after safety concerns were raised as a result of P&O sacking all their staff and replacing them with agency workers. Picture: Alamy

By Daisy Stephens

A P&O ship has been detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) after it was deemed "unfit to sail".

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The MCA said the ship was held due to "failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training".

It comes after P&O sacked all its seafarers with immediate effect and replaced them with agency workers, sparking concerns about the safety of the vessels.

"Following my instruction to inspect all P&O vessels prior to entering back into service, the [Maritime and Coastguard Agency] has detained a ship for being unfit to sail," said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Read more: Grant Shapps told about 'challenges' to P&O Ferries but not staff lay-offs in meeting

Read more: Explained: What has P&O done and why?

"I will not compromise the safety of these vessels and P&O will not be able to rush inexperienced crew through training."

The ship is the European Causeway, a ferry operating from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland.

There were no passengers or freight on board the vessel when it was detained in Larne, the MCA said.

An MCA spokesperson 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."

Detention of ships is based on concerns over their safety and to prevent them going to sea.

Watch: Shapps condemns ‘breathtaking arrogance’ of P&O boss and says he needs to resign

Read more: P&O accused of hiring workers on '£1.80 an hour' after sacking 800 people

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."

RMT chief attacks P&O for mass redundancy decision

Alliance East Antrim MLA Stewart Dickson also welcomed the impounding of the ferry in the interests of safety.

"It's not like the crew of an airplane getting off one Easyjet and getting on to the next one where the controls are the exactly the same, and everything is in the same place," he said.

"No two ships are the same, and you cannot just fly a crew in and expect them to be able to sail a ship.

"Every control will be in a different place, but particularly all those health and safety drills that have to be gone through, everything from lifeboat stations to how each item of equipment operates.

"It seemed to me it was going to be very difficult for staff to be able to take on that role in such a short period of time.

"I am absolutely delighted they have (impounded the ship). This isn't vengeance against P&O, it's about passenger safety and the safety of the crew as well.

"It was reckless of the company to think they could not only act in the way in which they did about dismissing staff but they don't seem to have had a plan as to how they were going to take this forward and now it is falling apart on them."

P&O Ferries sackings could constitute a criminal offence with an unlimited fine

It comes after P&O Ferries sacked 800 experienced members of staff with no notice and replaced them with workers paid less than the minimum wage.

Unions have raised concerns about the safety of the ships as a result.

Read more: P&O to pay out more than £36m in compensation to sacked staff

Read more: P&O Ferries boss admits firm 'chose' to break the law by sacking 800 workers

Mr Shapps condemned the "breathtaking arrogance" of P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite on Friday, telling LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast his actions were "unacceptable".

"We will not allow the situation to rest where it is," said the Transport Secretary.

"He deliberately sought to hide what the company was doing, break the law, by his own admission.

"And sack those workers, and pay them not to take P&O to a tribunal, and re-employ those positions on below the minimum wage, well below the minimum wage - that is unacceptable."

Transport Secretary hits out at brazen, breathtaking, arrogant P&O boss

The P&O chief executive told MPs on Thursday that he had made a conscious decision not to consult about the sackings with trade unions.

"We assessed that given the fundamental nature of change, no union could accept it and therefore we chose not to consult because a consultation process would have been a sham," he said.

"We didn't want to put anybody through that."

Read more: Andrew Marr: What were P&O Ferries thinking sacking 800 staff like this in the modern era?

He added: "I completely throw our hands up, my hands up, that we did choose not to consult.

"We did not believe there was any other way to do this."

Asked if he would make the same decision again with the benefit of hindsight, Mr Hebblethwaite replied: "We weren't viable before, and I know that if we hadn't made radical changes the business would have closed."

He also conceded that the new crews are being paid below the UK's minimum wage apart from on domestic routes, but insisted this is allowed under international maritime rules.

Mr Shapps branded his behaviour before the panel "brazen, breathtaking" and showed "arrogance".

"He needs to consider his position," Mr Shapps told LBC.

"He needs to resign."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

The 170-metre red bridge over wetlands in Canada Water, south-east London, opened last week

Security guards to stop cyclists from using bright red ‘wildlife boardwalk’ at £3.3bn London housing development

Rubert Gispin was visiting flood-hit parts of his native Valencia

Spanish influencer defends ‘shameful’ decision to deliberately cover himself in mud in Valencia’s flood damaged streets

Sara Sharif's father denies murdering the 10-year-old.

Father claims he begged to save Sara Sharif before being told ‘Leave it, she’s dead’

Queen Camilla is unwell with a chest infection and has withdrawn from her engagements this week

The Queen withdraws from engagements this week after being taken ill, Buckingham Palace announces

Tesco customers are furious after being forced to wait hours to book a Christmas delivery slot.

'It's like getting Beyonce tickets': Fury as Tesco shoppers face 'ridiculous' online queues for Christmas delivery slots

Ladbaby has broken its silence on historic allegations of gripping.

Charity chart-topper Ladbaby breaks his silence on 'groping' allegations

Labour MP Chris Webb 'attacked and mugged' near London flat by phone snatching gang

Labour MP Chris Webb 'attacked and mugged' near London flat by phone snatching gang

The White House has been barricaded and restaurants and stores boarded up as tensions rise over the election.

Washington DC braces for unrest as White House is barricaded and stores boarded up ahead of US election

Sir Chris Hoy said 'if you're over the age of 45, go and ask your doctor' for screening

Sir Chris Hoy calls for men to be offered prostate cancer screening from the age of 45 after his terminal diagnosis

Kamala Harris went door-knocking in Pennsylvania on the night before the election

Kamala Harris surprises residents in Pennsylvania as she goes door-knocking in final bid to win votes

Nearly 600 police officers sacked in a year amid as shocking figures reveal extent of misconduct crackdown

Nearly 600 police officers sacked in a year as shocking figures reveal extent of misconduct crackdown

Hundreds of people died in the devastating flooding in Spain

British man who survived Valencia floods describes hearing his neighbours’ horrifying final screams before they died

Amy Dowden said she was ‘heartbroken' as she left this year's Strictly Come Dancing

Amy Dowden says her ‘heart is breaking’ after she confirmed she will not return to Strictly

Anthony Scaramucci said the row between Trump and Labour would blow over

'Anglophile' Trump's row with Starmer will have 'no impact' on wider relations with UK, Anthony Scaramucci says

Nick Ferrari attends his first Trump rally in Pennsylvania as he meets the crowd in 'the poorest city in the United States'

Nick Ferrari attends his first Trump rally in Pennsylvania as he meets the crowd in 'the poorest city in the US'

Exclusive
Nick Ferrari bumps into Nigel Farage in Pennsylvania as he reflects on Trump's "remarkable" foreign policy achievements

Nick Ferrari bumps into Nigel Farage in Pennsylvania as he reflects on Trump's 'near-death' experience