Stena canceled all services between the port of Pembrokeshire and the Republic of Ireland until 12 April. The company relocated the ship that normally served this route to Northern Ireland after its customers expressed concerns about the supply of basic goods in the area as a result of the P&O Ferries crisis. Two of P&O’s ships – the European Highlander and the European Causeway – have not sailed between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland since the shipping company laid off 800 workers without warning last month. The company, which belongs to the Swedish Olsson family, said the suspension of P&O Ferries came at a difficult time of year, when other ships are out of order for annual repairs. Stena Line has advised customers traveling from Fishguard to Rosslare to travel from Pembroke Port in South Wales, as Irish Ferries will accept Stena Line tickets on their ferries. The cancellations were the result of what Stena Line described as “music ships”. He has flown the Stena Nordica – which usually sails between Holyhead and Dublin – to Northern Ireland to help provide extra freight capacity traveling there from the UK. As a result, Stena Europe, which typically serves Fishguard and Rosslare, has been relocated to the busier Holyhead-Dublin route, leaving a gap in the schedule. Stena Line’s Simon Palmer said: “Unfortunately we had to temporarily relocate Stena Europe from Fishguard to Holyhead as a result of the P&O crisis, as we had to add an extra boat for this route to Belfast to ensure the delivery of basic supplies in the area. “ Vacationers and HGV drivers faced several days of delays and disruption, as bad weather and the continued suspension of P&O Ferries caused long canal traffic queues in Dover over the weekend. Those hoping to avoid the chaos in the harbors crossing the Channel by train were overturned on Monday when a Eurotunnel Le Shuttle train collapsed into the Channel Tunnel. The crash came as Eurotunnel said it had more traffic than it had in 2019, at the start of the first school holidays since the UK lifted Covid travel restrictions. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Airline passengers also faced disruption during the Easter holidays, as staff shortages related to the rapid coronavirus outbreak led to extensive flight cancellations. More than 1,000 flights to the UK have been canceled in recent days by airlines, including easyJet and British Airways, due to high levels of crew illness. The lifting of travel restrictions on Covid has boosted demand for overseas travel, but it comes at a time when Covid-related absences are exacerbating existing staff shortages following the dismissal of many aviation workers during the pandemic.
