P&O Ferries announced the introduction of an additional ship on the Hull – Zeebrugge LoLo service. Container feeder FREYA will join ELISABETH as from 1 June 2021.
P&O Ferries informed its staff that the Hull – Zeebrugge route is to close permanently. PRIDE OF BRUGES and PRIDE OF YORK are to be disposed of.
The same announcement said that PRIDE OF BURGUNDY and EUROPEAN SEAWAY will not be returning to service.
The four ships have been put on the market.
P&O Ferries will reintroduce a fourth ship on Dover-Calais, to satisfy returning freight demand. It will be PRIDE OF CANTERBURY, currently laid up near Edinburgh, together with PRIDE OF BURGUNDY.
PRIDE OF CANTERBURY will enter service on Saturday 3 October in freight-only mode.
CEO of P&O Ferries Janette Bell has decided to stand down after three years in the role. Her interim replacement will be the current Managing Director for Short Routes David Stretch.
She has led the ferry company through the Brexit process, the Covid-19 pandemic, and two new ferries have been ordered.
P&O Ferries Inform Freight Customers About Dover Wharfage Charge
In a letter, P&O Ferries tells its customers that Dover Harbour Board have served all shipping companies a notice of a £5 increase in wharfage charges across all freight unit types.
This increased charge applies to trucks, unaccompanied trailers or vans as from 19 July (ref the letter from Dover Harbour Board).
“We have little choice but to pass on this additional £5 (or €6) charge to our customers as from the same date,” writes P&O Ferries.
P&O Ferries has submitted an HR1 form, this is an advance notification of redundancies.
Up to 1,100 jobs on passenger routes from Dover and Hull are at risk. P&O has furloughed 1,400 staff since the pandemic broke out.
The company is seeking voluntary redundancies before moving on to a selection process. Consultation will run for a period of 45 days, until 24 June 2020.
Five ropax ferries are currently laid up: PRIDE OF CANTERBURY, PRIDE OF BURGUNDY, EUROPEAN SEAWAY, PRIDE OF BRUGES and PRIDE OF YORK.
“Good afternoon everybody. My name’s Janette Bell and I’m the chief executive of P&O Ferries.
These are unprecedented times and I wanted to say a few words to the thousands of people who work for us, the millions who travel with us and of course the millions more who rely on our trucks and ships.”
P&O Ferries (1)
Larne – Cairnryan route will be running on a revised schedule, due to increased demand for unaccompanied traffic. (since 23 March 2020)
The Teesport – Europoort service will permanently move from the Riverside terminal in Teesport to the main terminal. The first ship, WILHELMINE, will call at the main terminal at 06:00 on Sunday 29 March.
P&O Ferries (2)
P&O Ferries is strengthening its freight operations on the Calais-Dover crossing as part of its commitment to maintain the flow of goods during the Covid-19 crisis.
The shift to meet the challenge of the Covid-19 crisis is made possible thanks to the commitment and hard work of P&O Ferries’ workforce in the Port of Calais, who are taking on new roles in freight handling to keep food, medicines and other goods flowing. P&O Ferries is following the guidance of health authorities on both sides of the channel to protect the health and well-being of employees and customers. The check-in and loading process has been modified to avoid direct contact. Cleaning protocols have been intensified on ships, which have also switched from air-conditioning to fresh air.
P&O Ferries want passengers to book with confidence: Flexible booking with no amendment fees
- Hull – Zeebrugge / Hull – Rotterdam: mini cruises suspended
- Cairnryan to Larne: normal
- Liverpool to Dublin: as a result of operational constraints, customers will temporarily need to move to a daytime sailing.
P&O Ferries is doubling its rail capacity at Europoort with the launch of a second line into its terminal at the continental hub.
The 650-metre long track will complement P&O’s existing rail line and means that the integrated ferry and logistics company can handle up to four trains of either 36 trailers or 42 x 45 foot containers a day, comprising eight services to and from locations across Europe.
Janette Bell, CEO P&O Ferries, said: “This new rail capacity will help even more of our customers solve their supply chain challenges and make trade flow by utilizing the unrivalled combined assets of P&O Ferries and P&O Ferrymasters.”
“Customers will be able to move goods between Britain and Europe using P&O Ferrymasters rail services and take advantage of our integrated planning, scheduling and transport management systems which solve some of the most pressing challenges in logistics, especially transparency.”
“To connect with the UK market, we provide three sailings a week to Teesport and seven sailings a week to Hull, with a commitment to providing customers with the most reliable and cost efficient service possible. This initiative underlines our commitment to growth and going to places where our customers want us to go.”
