P&O ferry released from detention after being reinspected by maritime officials

Maritime and Coastguard Agency said reinspection took place at request of P&O

The P&O Ferries operated European Causeway (Michael Cooper/PA) (PA)

A P&O ferry has been released from detention after being reinspected by maritime officials, it was announced on Friday.

The European Causeway was detained in Larne, Northern Ireland last month following the sacking of almost 800 workers by the company.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the reinspection took place at the request of P&O.

A spokesperson for the MCA said: “The European Causeway has been released from detention following a reinspection of the ferry over the past two days.

“There are no further inspections of P&O Ferries planned for the weekend.”

it comes after P&O Ferries announced it is preparing to restart sailings “from this weekend” on routes suspended since the mass sackings.

The firm revealed plans to resume operations for four of its ships.

It has been prevented from running all but one of its vessels since it announced widespread redundancies on March 17.

The company sparked outrage by replacing its crews with cheaper agency workers, without notice.

A spokesman for the firm said: “From this weekend, P&O Ferries are getting ready to resume services across a number of vital routes.

“P&O has been working closely with regulators to ensure our ships are safe to sail.

“P&O is looking forward to welcoming back vital services and we expect to have two of our vessels ready to sail on the Dover/Calais route by next week, subject to regulatory sign-off, namely both the Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain between Dover/Calais.

“P&O are also expecting to be able to sail both the European Causeway, which runs between Larne and Cairnryan, and the Pride of Hull, which runs services between Hull and Rotterdam.”