P&O Ferries has urged people to avoid travel if it is "not essential" after suspending services for several days.

The ferry operator, bought by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World in 2019, has sacked 800 seafarers and replaced them with cheaper agency workers. 

The company has since insisted the decision to cut jobs was “very difficult but necessary” as it was “not a viable business” in its current state.

All P&O Ferries are “unable to run for the next few days”, the firm said, with impacted services including Dover to Calais, Hull to Rotterdam, Liverpool to Dublin, and from Cairnryan, Scotland, to Larne, Northern Ireland.

It advised those already at Dover and Calais to make their way to the check-in booths for Danish firm DFDS, but there were no such instructions for those at Hull, Rotterdam, Liverpool, Dublin, Cairnryan or Larne.

Trade unions are now threatening legal action against P&O while calling for wider public support for demonstrations in Dover, Liverpool and Hull on Friday.

The move sparked outrage from politicians and workers, many of whom refused to leave ships.

The Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East called on the Government to force P&O to “come up with a different plan”.

Karl Turner told the BBC: “What I say to the Government is you’ve got to get P&O into a position where they’re prepared to negotiate with the trade union members.

“And they’ve got to come up with a different plan. They can’t just summarily dismiss people without any consultation or notice. It’s 800 jobs across the country.”

'Dark day in the shipping industry'

Isle of Wight County Press: Photo via PA shows a service by P&O Ferries docked up.Photo via PA shows a service by P&O Ferries docked up.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the UK has seen one of the most “vicious examples of despotic employer behaviour” and one of the most shameful episodes in its recent industrial history.

In one of the latest updates, Mark Dickinson of Nautilus International said his union was “actively progressing” preparations for legal action against P&O Ferries alongside the RMT union.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The company is duty bound to consult … with the trade unions.

“We have collective bargaining agreements for all the affected seafarers, all the vessels on all the routes.

“We’ve worked with this company for decades through difficult times and through the good times.

“This is clearly illegal.”

He added: “It is a dark day in the shipping industry.

“I’ve been in this game for over 40 years and I’ve seen some curveballs and some shocking developments over that time, but this is a new low for a shipping company.

“To treat the due legal process in such an underhand and callous way has shocked me, taken my breath away.”

Can the Government stop P&O Ferries job cuts?

The Government has said it is unable to prevent P&O sacking 800 seafarers and replacing them with cheaper agency staff, a minister has said.

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the company had behaved “disgracefully” but acknowledged the Government was powerless to stop it.

“I think that is the reality,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“The Government anger will mean very little to those who have been sacked. I do feel very sorry for those people.

“I do think P&O have behaved disgracefully and I wish that P&O had given the Government and the unions more opportunity to engage with them to try to save those jobs.

“Ultimately, it is not something the Government can stop P&O from doing. Now the focus will be on supporting those who have lost their jobs.”

Some of those who lost their jobs were informed of the decision on a video call from a P&O official who said: “The company has made the decision that its vessels going forward will be primarily crewed by a third-party crew provider.

“Therefore, I am sorry to inform you that this means your employment is terminated with immediate effect on the grounds of redundancy.”

P&O Ferries said in a statement: “We have made a £100 million loss year-on-year, which has been covered by our parent, DP World. This is not sustainable.

“Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”