On 17 March, whispers started making their way along the travel grapevine. Something big was happening with P&O Ferries: ships were being told to return to port and remain there; sailings were being quietly cancelled; rumours were circulating that the company had requested the services of security firms in anticipation that things could get ugly.
And then, the big reveal: nearly 800 seafaring staff were being let go with immediate effect, a fact they learnt over a pre-recorded video message from management.
The fall out was swift and dramatic, involving gruelling select committee interrogations, ships being detained and claims of new agency workers being paid half the minimum wage.
Here’s every disaster that has hit the beleaguered ferry company since it knowingly broke the law by axing hundreds of staff without prior consultation last month.
17 March: 800 staff fired
Where it all began: operations ceased as crew were told to tie up their ships and stand by for a “major announcement”. Shortly after 11am, nearly 800 UK-based staff were told by a video call that they had been made redundant with immediate effect, to be replaced by cheaper agency labour.
Things quickly escalated, with many of those fired refusing to leave ships, leading to security guards with handcuffs reportedly being deployed to remove them.
24 March: Select committee grilling
P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite was dragged in front of a joint hearing of the transport and business committees to answer for his actions.
Darren Jones, the Labour MP who chairs the business select committee, kicked off the session by asking Mr Hebblethwaite if he was “a shameless criminal?”
And things only went downhill from there; Mr Hebblethwaite admitted to unlawfully axing employees without consulting with unions and say he would make the same decision again as it was the only way to save the company.
Andy McDonald, the former shadow transport secretary, accused P&O of “behaving like gangsters.”
25 March: Calls for CEO to resign
Grant Shapps made his feelings about the matter crystal clear, saying the boss of P&O Ferries should resign immediately after he admitted to knowingly breaking the law over the mass sacking of 800 staff.
The transport secretary said chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite had shown “brazen, breathtaking and incredible arrogance”.
Asked if Boris Johnson supported transport secretary Grant Shapps’ assertion that Mr Hebblethwaite should quit, a No 10 spokesman said: “Yes.’’
25: European Causeway detained
The P&O vessel European Causeway was detained in Larne, Northern Ireland while the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out a safety inspection. It initially failed, with a record number of issues - totalling 31 - picked up by inspectors.
28 March: Transport Secretary tells P&O to rehire staff
In an open letter to Peter Hebblethwaite, Grant Shapps took aim at the P&O CEO again, calling his role as chief executive “untenable” and warning that he had “one further opportunity to reverse this decision by immediately offering all 800 workers their jobs back”.
28 March: Pride of Kent detained
The Pride Of Kent ship was detained in Dover, Kent, and failed inspections of emergency equipment, crew training and documentation by the MCA.
29 March: P&O refuses to reverse mass redundancies
Mr Hebblethwaite wrote an open letter to the transport secretary, in which he staunchly defended the firm’s decision to replace hundreds of employees with cheaper agency workers.
Of Mr Shapps’ demand that P&O Ferries immediately re-hire sacked staff, he said: “Complying with your request would deliberately cause the company’s collapse, resulting in the irretrievable loss of an additional 2,200 jobs.
“I cannot imagine that you would wish to compel an employer to bring about its downfall, affecting not hundreds but thousands of families.”
1 April: Criminal inquiry launched
Criminal and civil investigations were launched into the decision by P&O Ferries to sack nearly 800 workers.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the Insolvency Service had started “formal criminal and civil investigations”.
The Insolvency Service said: “Following its inquiries, the Insolvency Service has commenced formal criminal and civil investigations into the circumstances surrounding the recent redundancies made by P&O Ferries.
“As these are ongoing investigations, no further comment or information can be provided at this time.”
13 April: Spirit of Britain detained
Another P&O vessel, the Spirit of Britain, was detained by the MCA after an inspection identified several safety issues.
14 April: Easter crossings cancelled
P&O Ferries confirmed that all of its Dover-Calais sailings would be cancelled over the long weekend.
The company had hoped to resume crossings over Easter, but told customers that no services would be operating until at least Tuesday 19 April.
22 April: New agency workers fired for drinking
P&O Ferries dismissed seven of its new agency workers for drinking while on duty.
The staff members - who were part of the new agency crew P&O had hired - were found to have broken company rules on alcohol consumption.
A company representative said: “We can confirm that seven agency-employed seafarers who returned from shore were found to be in breach of our strict guidelines on alcohol consumption and have been dismissed with immediate effect.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our foremost priority and we continue to operate a zero tolerance policy towards drinking whilst on duty.”
26 April: P&O accused of paying half minimum wage
A union called for a boycott of P&O Ferries, claiming the company had been paying workers just £4.35 an hour.
The RMT union alleged that it had seen evidence of agency workers being paid less than half the minimum wage.
“We have seen contracts of agency workers where they are being paid the equivalent of £4.35 an hour for 17 weeks’ work,” the RMT said. “This is less than half the current UK national minimum wage.”
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) urged both freight firms and passengers to book with P&O Ferries’ competitors in response.
P&O said the complaint was down to an “administrative misunderstanding”.
26 April: Ship adrift in Irish Sea
A P&O ferry was left adrift in the Irish Sea for more than an hour after it lost power about five miles off the coast of Larne, Northern Ireland.
The European Causeway, which can carry up to 410 passengers, left Cairnryan in Scotland at midday on Tuesday, bound for Larne Harbour.
P&O confirmed the situation on Twitter, blaming “a mechanical issue”. Tugboats were sent to guide the ship back to port.
27 April: Seafarers refuse to work after ship loses power
P&O Ferries seafarers who were onboard the vessel that lost power and was adrift in the Irish Sea reportedly refused to continue working on the ship.
Some agency workers asked maritime unions for advice about terminating their contracts, reported The Times.
27 April: Grant Shapps says P&O should return furlough money
P&O Ferries should hand back the money paid by taxpayers for staff furlough during the coronavirus pandemic, the transport secretary said.
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee, Grant Shapps said: “In my view, though it’s a matter for P&O themselves, I think that they need to repay furlough money. It’s around £11m. I don’t think it’s right that having claimed that money they then sacked the workers in such a premeditated way, which they themselves admitted broke the law.”
