Sacked P&O ferry crew barricade themselves inside ship and refuse entry to agency staff

Sacked members of staff aboard a P&O ship have barricaded themselves in and are refusing entry to agency staff on the quayside. The crew members on board the Pride of Hull were among 800 informed this morning that they had been made redundant.

Hull Live is reporting that a crew member on the Pride of Rotterdam had been in touch with his colleagues on the Pride of Hull, and has set the scene of what is going on inside the ship. The walkway and stern doors of the Pride of Hull, which is currently moored in Hull, have been closed and locked, and the captain of the ship, Eugene Favier, from the Netherlands, has been refusing to back down after his crew were blindsided by a redundancy video message.

That message informed staff that they had been sacked with immediate effect and their jobs would be filled by people working for a 'third party'. The unions, RMT and Nautilus International, have encouraged crew members to stay on the ship, until it is clear what is going on with the terms of their redundancy.

The Pride of Rotterdam crew member told HullLive: "There is one of the RMT Union leaders on the ship now. The walkway has been taken off, the stern ramp has been closed, no one can get in the ship.

The P&O ferry Pride of Hull in the Port of Hull, East Yorkshire, following the announcement that the ferry operator has suspended sailings amid speculation it is preparing to sack hundreds of workers (PA)

"The Pride of Rotterdam is in Holland and is not sailing back tonight. I don't think there is anywhere for her to moor in Hull, if the Pride of Hull remains where it is."

The crew is now thought to be in meetings, awaiting further information. A spokesperson for RMT Union told Hull Live: "We have been left completely in the dark about this, and still don't have much information about what is going on.

"We advised all sailing crew to remain on board the vessels, and not to get off until the terms of this redundancy are laid out clearer."

MP for Kingston upon Hull East, Karl Turner, revealed via Twitter that the captain of the ship has come ashore for discussions with P&O Ferries, at their request. However, the rest of the crew were believed to still be on board, awaiting further news.

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