UK-registered P&O Ferries made 800 staff redundant with immediate effect and suspended all crossings on Thursday, saying the business in its current form was not viable.
The ferry group, which has been hit by COVID-19 travel restrictions in the last two years, has almost 4,000 employees and operates more than 30,000 sailings a year on major routes including between Britain, France and Ireland. Dubai ports firm
DP World bought the company in 2019.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“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,” a spokesperson for P&O said.
The firm said it had lost 100 million pounds ($131 million) year on year, which had been covered by DP World.
“This is not sustainable,” the spokesperson said. “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”
P&O said it was unable to run services for the next few days, and advised passengers to continue to travel to ports, where they would be accommodated by alternative carriers.
Transport union RMT said it had advised its members who worked for P&O not to leave their vessels.
Read more:
SoftBank-backed Oyo considering 50 pct smaller IPO as markets sag
Turkey central bank extends rate pause even as Ukraine war, Fed rate hike test lira
UAE’s sovereign investment fund Mubadala announces partnership expansion with Apollo
