P&O resumes Channel crossings for first time since sackings

theguardian.com:

P&O Ferries has resumed cross-Channel sailings for the first time since it sacked nearly 800 seafarers.

The vessel Spirit of Britain departed Dover for Calais shortly after 11pm on Tuesday carrying freight customers, while passenger services are expected to resume early next week.

Earlier in the day, another P&O Ferries ship, European Causeway, had been adrift five miles off the coast of Northern Ireland for two hours in the afternoon after it lost power.

The company was widely condemned after replacing 786 crew members with cheaper agency staff on 17 March.

Its chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, told a joint hearing of the Commons’ business and transport committees later that month that P&O Ferries broke the law by not consulting with trade unions before implementing the decision. He has rejected calls to resign.

Mick Lynch, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary, said: “After yesterday’s vessel ran adrift off the coast of Larne, no P&O ferry should set sail on safety grounds.

“Staffing ferries with undertrained, ill-equipped, over-worked and grossly underpaid seafarers blatantly undermines maritime safety. “There will be more safety-related incidents on the P&O fleet under these intolerable owners and we can only hope that they do not escalate in seriousness.

“Instead of taking that gamble with worker and passenger safety, the government must step in now and take over the running of all P&O vessels.”

On Tuesday, the Trades Union Congress called for a public and commercial boycott of the firm, claiming it deserves “pariah status” for the way it treated its employees.

P&O Ferries’ suspension of Dover-Calais sailings after the sackings led to a shortage of capacity on the key route, sparking long