Around 1,100 workers at P&O Ferries are to be made redundant as part of a plan to make the business ‘viable and sustainable’ as a result of coronavirus, the company has said.
A spokesman for Dover-based P&O Ferries said: "Since the beginning of the crisis, P&O Ferries has been working with its stakeholders to address the impact of the loss of the passenger business.
"It is now clear that right-sizing the business is necessary to create a viable and sustainable P&O Ferries to get through Covid-19.
"Regrettably, therefore, due to the reduced number of vessels we are operating and the ongoing downturn in business, we are beginning consultation proceedings with a proposal to make around 1,100 of our colleagues redundant."
P&O owner Dubai-based DP World had been seeking UK Government aid of around £150 million, according to reports.
The redundancies come two months after DP World said it would be paying its investors about £270m in dividends. DP World said it was ‘legally obliged to pay’ the dividends.
P&O operates passenger ferries between Dover and Calais, as well as Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, plus services across the Irish Sea.
P&O has already furloughed about 1,400 staff, the majority of whom the company said were in its passenger business.
