P&O Ferries must lose licence over safety and staff scandal as MPs compare shameless bosses to ‘gangsters’ – The Yorkshire Post says

THE position of Peter Hebblethwaite as chief executive of P&O Ferries was already untenable before he appeared before disbelieving MPs.
By YP Commment
Published 25th Mar 2022, 05:59 BST

It is even more so today and he must hope, when he does clear his desks in Hull and Dover, that his possessions are not dumped in a bin liner – the indignity suffered by some of the 800 sacked seafarers.

P&O Ferries must shape up or ship out of Hull following unlawful sacking of 800 seafarers – Dame Diana Johnson

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The arrogant contempt shown by Mr Hebblethwaite and Jesper Kristensen, chief operating officer of the ferry firm’s Dubai-based owners DP World, frankly, has no place in modern Britain.

A protest in Hull after P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers.A protest in Hull after P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers.
A protest in Hull after P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers.

Mr Hebblethwaite, whose basic salary is £325,000, accepted that P&O’s actions did break employment law. He said the £5.50 hourly rate being paid to agency crew to cut costs complied with shipping rules and did not – or could not – answer when asked if he could live off such a paltry sum.

Equally perturbing was his non-response when MPs asked if the Maritime and Coastguard Agency had actually sanctioned the new crew arrangements. “I don’t the answer. Let me find out,” he said lamely.

When it was then put to him that it was his duty, as chief executive, to sign off the safety risk assessment amid concerns new crew members have not been trained in emergency procedures, Mr Hebblethwaite replied: “I haven’t seen the risk assessment.”

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Given this, the DfT will be letting down seafarers – and the public – if it does not suspend the licence of P&O Ferries and prevent its boats sailing to and from Britain until this scandal is settled.

Peter Hebblethwaite, Chief Executive, P&O Ferries, answering questions in front of the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in the House of Commmons on the subject of P&O Ferries after the ferry giant handed 800 seafarers immediate severance notices last week.Peter Hebblethwaite, Chief Executive, P&O Ferries, answering questions in front of the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in the House of Commmons on the subject of P&O Ferries after the ferry giant handed 800 seafarers immediate severance notices last week.
Peter Hebblethwaite, Chief Executive, P&O Ferries, answering questions in front of the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in the House of Commmons on the subject of P&O Ferries after the ferry giant handed 800 seafarers immediate severance notices last week.

Safety is too important to be left to these shameless executives who, at one point, were accused of “behaving like gangsters” – and with good reason.

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Related topics:Yorkshire PostDiana JohnsonMPsHullBritain

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