Another P&O Ferries vessel has been detained after inspectors found a “number of deficiencies”, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) confirmed. The Spirit of Britain ship cannot set sail until the issues have been addressed, and surveyors said they did not know when this would happen.
The detention casts doubt on the ability of P&O Ferries to resume its Dover operations before Easter weekend. In a statement to the BBC, the MCA said: “We have advised P&O to invite us back once they have addressed the issues. We do not know yet when this will be.” P&O’s Dover-Calais routes are currently suspended and the company has said it will not resume services on the route before Friday at the earliest. The MCA has been making its way through inspections of eight P&O Ferries to ensure they are fit to sail.
The Pride of Hull and European Causeway have been inspected and cleared to sail, while the Pride of Kent, which normally serves the Dover to Calais route, remains under detention with the Spirit of Britain. The concern over a lack of ferries comes amid warnings that travel disruption is expected to return at Dover and other ports in Kent as the Easter weekend approaches.
Several factors have caused the delays at Kent ports in the past few weeks. Bad weather, Easter holidays and P&O Ferries routes being suspended have all led to congestion around Dover. There have also been problems with an IT system for custom checks at the UK’s busiest port following Brexit. Logistics UK called for a “rapid reinstatement of full ferry capacity” before the Easter weekend to help reduce long lorry queues. The transport industry body raised concerns over drivers being stuck in queues without access to toilets, washing facilities, food and water.
It blamed Operation Brock, the traffic management system intended to keep vehicles moving across the English Channel, and called for the plan, which allows lorries to use one entire side of the M20 into Dover, to be reviewed “urgently”. However, the Kent Resilience Forum, which manages emergency planning for the county, said it was not possible to provide toilet facilities. A spokesman said it was due to safety reasons, but added when queues were at a standstill previously, food and water had been provided to drivers.
The Kent Resilience Forum previously told the BBC that the problems have created a “perfect storm”, with traffic disruption around Dover the worst it has been since 2020. Operation Brock normally has the capacity for around 2,000 lorries, but it is now holding up to 4,000, said Tony Howe, tactical lead of the forum. The traffic management plan allows lorries using the M20 into Dover to use one side of the motorway between junctions eight and nine, allowing other traffic to flow in both directions. It has now been extended to junction 11 to deal with the extra congestion.
But Heidi Skinner, policy manager at Logistics UK, said since Operation Brock had been brought in there were “undoubtedly lessons that need to be learned”. “HGV drivers must be given access to basic welfare facilities while in long queues,” she said. “This review is needed urgently, and we must consider how our HGV drivers can be better provided for when there are delays in accessing our ports in Kent.”
At the weekend, UK hauliers carrying perishable goods said products were losing quality and value as they were forced to sit in long queues to cross into Europe from Dover. Though the queues eased on Sunday, the British Meat Processors Association said some of its members had waited for 24 hours or more to cross the Channel. The Kent Resilience Forum – which is a partnership organisation including Kent Police, Kent County Council and Highways England – has confirmed Operation Brock will remain in place until after the Bank Holiday weekend. Highways England has said the traffic management system is kept “under continual review”.
