P&O Ferries fires new agency workers for drinking on the job

Dismissed staff are part of the new agency recruits who replaced 800 sacked workers

Two P&O Ferries vessels have also been detained after safety inspections (PA Wire)

P&O Ferries has 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 was using after sacking 800 of its workers with immediate effect in March - 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.”

Many of the P&O workers sacked in March were informed over a pre-recorded video message.

The new staff were brought in to help the company operate more cost-effectively, but several of P&O’s ferries at Dover have been unable to run in recent weeks due to inspections and safety concerns.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) confirmed that the Pride of Kent is being held at the Port of Dover after undertaking a safety inspection, while the European Highlander is being held in the Northern Ireland port of Larne.

A total of eight P&O Ferries vessels are being examined by the MCA through the Port State Control regime.

After the agency workers were drafted in, the boss of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport) Union Mick Lynch expressed concerns about safety, telling the BBC’s Today programme: “We don’t believe it’s safe to bring a crew that’s never even seen the vessels and get them to run them a few days after they’ve been introduced to them.”

Protests against P&O’s dismissal of hundreds of workers were held again on Tuesday in Dover, starting at the RMT Union headquarters.

Workers and allies chanted, “Sack the board” and, “They say low pay we say no way” as they marched through the town.