The protests took place after a ship operated by the ferry company was detained because it was “unsuitable to sail”. The European Causeway took place in the port of Larne in Northern Ireland. The boat is one of two run by Larne and Cairnryan of Scotland. However, the voyages remain suspended after the company’s decision to lay off 800 seafarers and replace them with cheaper workers. The Shipping and Coast Guard (MCA) said the ship was detained due to “failures in crew familiarization, boat documentation and crew training”, while Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would not endanger the safety of P&O ships. . The MCA said: “We can confirm that the European Causeway has been taken into custody in Larne. He has been detained for failures in crew familiarization, boat documentation and crew training. “The ship will remain in custody until all these issues are resolved by P&O Ferries. Only then will it be re-checked. “ The MCA confirmed that there were no passengers or cargo on the European Causeway when it was booked. The ship was first put into service in 2000 replacing the Pride of Rathlin, according to the P&O Ferries website. Shapps, meanwhile, wrote on Twitter: “Following my instructions to inspect all P&O vessels before being put back into service, MCA-Media banned one vessel because it was unfit to sail. “I will not jeopardize the safety of these boats and P&O will not be able to rush an infinite crew through training.” P&O Ferries informed customers on social media that services between Larne and Cairnryan had been suspended. The company said: “It is no longer possible for us to arrange travel through an alternative carrier on this route. For the necessary trips, the clients are advised to look for alternatives themselves. “ The latest developments in the crisis came as protests were planned for Saturday by the Railways, Shipping and Transportation Union (RMT) in Liverpool, Hull and Dover against P&O’s actions. RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch called on the government to seize the entire fleet of P&O vessels and to dismiss the crew, who were not consulted or given any notice. “The occupation of the European Corridor by the MCA tonight shows that the gangster capitalist P&O uniform is not fit and proper to operate a secure post-slaughter service,” he said. “This mob must be disbanded, its ships seized and its crews fired restored to safely reopen these critical ferry services.” Labor’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Hay, has called for the laid-off workers to be reinstated and for P&O Ferries director Peter Hebblethwaite to be “banned”. She wrote on Twitter: “The trained, experienced, loyal crew needs to be restored. And the CEO should be excluded as a manager. “P&O Ferries’ shameful misconduct has ruined their livelihoods and damaged key UK shipping routes.” The Labor Party wrote a letter to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking if the government would seek to remove Hebblethwaite from the post of director under the 1986’s dismissal law, PA Media reported. In a letter, the party accused the government of “sitting on its hands” instead of taking steps to hold P&O accountable, adding that “the blunt response risks giving the green light to exploitation”. Boris Johnson also backed Saps’s call for Heblebhite to resign.
