P&O Ferries: Dockers say they won't let the Pride of Hull go to sea after 800 UK workers replaced with agency staff

The vessel remained docked in King George Dock in Hull on Friday as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the P&O Ferries terminal, and banged on its doors in a vain effort to summon management.

It came after 800 workers were sacked without notice and replaced by cheaper agency workers.

A replacement Eastern European crew has boarded the vessel in Hull, but the vessel’s Dutch Captain is said to have “locked himself in his cabin”.

Billy Jones, branch secretary for Humber Shipping for the RMT said a mixture of paperwork and dockers’ refusal to unmoor the vessel meant she could be stuck for days. The replacement crew have now been cleared by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and are allowed to sail the vessel, he said.

But Mr Jones said: “We have been advised by the dockers they are not going to touch the Pride of Hull - you need four to six men to let her go.”

The RMT said they were planning another demonstration following the rally attended by Hull East MP Karl Turner and former Labour leader and Doncaster MP Ed Miliband.

It came as Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called on the Government to review any contract or licence the government have with P&O or its Dubai-based owners DP World, including DP World’s running of two freeport schemes.

Mr Turner said he had heard the Government did have notice of the actions P&O were about to take, and would be raising the issue next week in Parliament, adding: “The reinstatement of workers is our priority”.

He hailed the ship’s Captain for “showing absolute solidarity” with the crew, adding: “I think that Captain might be on board with the first mate. I want to thank him personally.”

A deckhand who has worked for P&O for 30 years, and whose job included steering the ship, said it was “despicable to not notify anyone until the day you are fired”.

He said: “My girlfriend is out of work, I’m out of work and I've still got a bit of mortgage to pay. And bills are going up. It’s just shock one day you’re working - the next you’re not.”

He said he was earning around £29,000 a year working two weeks on, two off, and didn’t fancy the life of an agency worker, with no security. He said: “It will always be agency from now on, less wages and they’ll hire you for only a couple of weeks.”

Meanwhile passengers on board the Pride of Rotterdam, which also sails from Hull, some of whom had been on a Northern Soul cruise, had reportedly to be shipped from the Dutch port by Danish firm DFDS to Newcastle.

There was an angry response on social media to P&O tweeting that sailings were cancelled, with some saying they would never travel with P&O again because of its “horrific” treatment of staff. One said: “Why would you want to travel with a company that has just sacked its workers for a cheaper option. I would seriously worry about my safety.”

The company operates four routes: Dover to Calais, Hull to Rotterdam, Liverpool to Dublin, and Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland.

The firm insisted the decision to cut jobs was "very difficult but necessary" as it was "not a viable business" in its current state.