Latest news about P&O and Brittany Ferries as well as maritime plans for zero emission ferries, rescues from ferries, electric ferries, disputes over crew wages and more.
British trade union RMT has condemned P&O head Peter Hebblethwaite’s performance in the Parliamentary Committee this week, where he admitted staff were paid under £5 an hour. The RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers), has 83,000 members from almost every sector of the transport industry, including maritime and offshore. P&O sacking scandal […]
Over 100 people are understood to have died, with almost 20 still missing, after an overcrowded, makeshift ferry capsized off the coast of Nampula, northern Mozambique. Officials say the disaster happened after panic broke out after disinformation related to a cholera outbreak spread. The vessel, a converted fishing boat, was carrying around 130 people on […]
Technology group Wärtsilä has signed a strategic partnership agreement to provide its fleet electrification and systems integrator services for a project to build the first zero-emission high speed ferries in the US. The first fully electric zero-emission high speed ferries will be built for San Francisco’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), the operator of the San Francisco […]
Danfoss Power Solutions’ Editron division has been commissioned by Cheoy Lee Shipyard to deliver the hybrid-electric marine drivetrain system powering two new hybrid-electric ferries. The two ferries are expected to be delivered to their owner by the middle of 2024. Located at the end of the Pearl River estuary, Hong Kong is one of the world’s busiest […]
Directors at P&O Ferries say they are confident that there will be no financial penalty over the mass sacking of 800 seafarers without notice. In its latest Companies House filing for the financial year 2021, the Dubai-owned UK ferry operator reveals it is headed back towards profitability as early as this month. The annual report […]
Maritime union, RMT has criticised the government amid the National Minimum Wage (NMW) increase, pointing out that thousands of seafarers will not be eligible for the rise. On 1 April 2023, the national minimum wage rose by 9.7 per cent from £9.50 to £10.42 for all over 23-year-olds. However, despite the Seafarers Wages Act being […]
Maritime union RMT has written to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), after it was reported that a lifeboat had fallen off the new P&O vessel P&O Pioneer using low-paid agency crew. RMT says all crew working on P&O Ferries are low-paid agency crew, predominantly recruited overseas by Maltese crewing agent IFM. IFM was set […]
Holiday chaos has ensued in the Orkney Islands after MV Alfred ran aground (5July22) on the Island of Swona and has been taken out of action up to, and including, 10 July. Holiday makers have been stranded, scrabbling to find accommodation on Orkney to extend their stay, and those on the mainland can’t get to […]
The world’s longest-ranging, fully electric ferry, Ellen, set a new world record at the 7th annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Sønderborg, Denmark. The electric boat sailed 50 nautical miles (92 kilometres) on a single battery charge. The event saw leaders from industry, government, and civil society join with the International Energy Agency (IEA). […]
Ports and unions have criticised the UK government over “feeble” plans to ensure seafarers are paid the equivalent of UK minimum wage. Following P&O Ferries’ decision to sack 800 workers, the government has made moves to introduce pay protection reforms requiring ferry operators who regularly call at UK ports to pay their workers the equivalent […]
P&O Ferries seafarers are reportedly refusing to work on a ship that was left adrift in the Irish Sea for two hours following a power loss yesterday afternoon. The European Causeway, which can carry up to 410 passengers and 53 crew, suffered a complete power failure at 12:25pm on Tuesday, around five miles off the […]