The captain of a giant P&O ferry has been hailed as a hero after he reportedly drew up his gangplanks and refused to allow police aboard his vessel.
Eugene Favier, who is in charge of the Pride of Hull, sealed himself and his crew inside the ferry after P&O announced mass redundancies, reports say.
The occupation finally came to an end after Captain Favier went ashore and negotiated with the firm's bosses.
The crew of the Pride of Hull are now leaving the ship after P&O agreed to provide paperwork requested by their union.
P&O reportedly fired 800 workers over Zoom today after the company lost £100million year on year.
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RMT organiser for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Gaz Jackson said the Pride of Hull's crew were “absolutely devastated” and described P&O’s actions as “unacceptable” and “unforgivable”.
He told reporters at King George Dock in Hull: “I got a phone call at 8am saying something was going to happen at P&O, I got on board (the Pride of Hull) and spoke to the captain and we said we’ve got to lift the gangway until we’ve got an agreement.
“At 11am ratings and officers were informed there was going to be a pre-recorded Zoom meeting. After that two to three-minute call all the crew were made redundant.”
Mr Jackson praised the captain for his “brave decision” to lift the gangway “for the safety of the crew”, saying security guards were “going to pull us off if we weren’t going to get off”.
He said negotiations had come to an end when the company agreed to provide paperwork requested by the union.
Mr Jackson said: “The crew are absolutely devastated. I’ve seen grown men crying on there because they don’t know where they’re going to go from today.”
He said it is “very likely” the new crew “won’t be British seafarers”.
Mr Jackson said the union would hold demonstrations at P&O ports and had a “legal injunction against the company”.
Hull's Labour MP Karl Turner previously said Capt Favier was operating under maritime law to prevent anyone coming aboard his ship.
He added that those on the ship had enough food supplies to last "as long as it takes" to resolve the dispute.
Earlier today he said: "I'm told by Gaz Jackson, who is the RMT official who is sitting in on the ship, he's effectively locked in with the ship and the crew.
"He's saying the captain is refusing to allow the police to enter the ship. Members have said to me that the vessel has got enough supplies to feed the crew for as long as it takes.
"As far as I understand in maritime law, even though that vessel is in a port, that captain is still entitled under maritime law to refuse any person onto his vessel."
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The Pride of Hull normally carries a crew of 141 people aboard.
Mr Turner later added: "The captain is Capt. Eugene Favier from the Netherlands.
"What a hero, rising to the moment and supporting his crew as they resist this disgraceful action by P&O.
"Eugene Favier has gone ashore to speak directly with P&O at their request, crew remains onboard."
Mr Turner said that staff on the ship had been treated with "utter contempt" P&O, which is owned by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World.
He said: "They're treating British ratings with utter contempt, and they're treating the British government with utter contempt as well. Boris Johnson was in Dubai yesterday.
"I'm not having a pop at Boris Johnson, but I suspected P&O ferries, which is owned by the state of Dubai was effectively going to sack every British rating the very next morning."
Earlier today, P&O released a statement saying they would be making a "major company announcement" to ensure the long term viability of their operations.
Their statement read: "To facilitate this announcement all our vessels have been asked to discharge their passengers and cargo and standby for further instructions.
"This means we're expecting all our ports to experience serious disruption today, so please bear with us and we will give further information in an all-colleague announcement later today."
