A second P&O ferry has been detained, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has confirmed.
The Pride of Kent, based in Dover, has now been seized by officials following an inspection yesterday.
A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said “Our surveyors are in the process of detaining the Pride of Kent. We are awaiting confirmation of all the detainable items.”
In a great lesson in how to destroy a company within days, the P&O Ferries owners wanted to conduct sea-trials with their new crew, with a view to putting the ship back into service by the end of this week.
It has been reported that none of the companies eight ferries have ever been detained, until four days ago. Two P&O ships have now been detained since Friday. The Pride of Kent has operated out of Dover since 1992.
It’s not looking good for the owners or the new crews. Not only that, but the company reputation is in tatters and many customers do not want to sail with P&O, not only because of what they have done – but also because their safety is looking dubious.
The RMT Union has welcomed the MCA’s detention of the vessel.
It’s now high time for these important vessels to be taken over under public control with the sacked crews reinstated
General Secretary Mick Lynch said “The seizing of the Pride of Kent by the MCA this evening should be adequate evidence for the Government that the gangster capitalist outfit P&O are not fit and proper to run a safe service after the jobs massacre. It’s rare enough for the MCA to impound a ferry but P&O have now had two in a week after the jobs carve up which speaks volumes about the dire state of their operation.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP has asked P&O to offer its 800 staff their jobs back or he will impose new restrictions on minimum wages for ships crews. P&O are now stuck between some nasty rocks as over half of those people who lost thier jobs have now accepted redundancy terms. For anyone who would consider taking their old job back, there is a good chance it would be on lower money and there are doubts over the long term prospects of the company.
