P&O Ferries chief ‘clarifies’ comments over crew time off

P&O FERRIES boss Peter Hebblethwaite has admitted that crew members can get just one day off a month after telling a parliamentary committee that a week’s leave was the minimum requirement.

Mr Hebblethwaite said in a letter to Liam Byrne, the business and trade committee chairman, that seafarers can work continuous days during a rotation and are paid in lieu of leave during that time.

The compulsory time off is limited to only one paid day off per month, he said, and even this may be disregarded “for those on very short contracts who work straight through”.

Mr Hebblethwaite said he was seeking to clarify the situation after telling the committee that P&O’S recruitment agency typically exceeds the minimum seven days paid leave per month on the Dover-calais route.

The chief repeatedly referred to the figure after being confronted with claims that crew, many of them flown in from India, Malaysia and the Philippines, often worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week for up to 17 weeks at a time.

Mr Hebblethwaite said: “On reflection some of my comments might not have been as clear as I would have liked.” In the letter, sent to Mr Byrne hours after the evidence session ended on Tuesday, P&O also revealed that workers are guaranteed only 10 hours off each day.

P&O Ferries, which is owned by Dubai-based ports and logistics giant DP World, hired workers on new terms after dismissing 786 crew members without notice two years ago, saying that it needed to slash the wage bill in order to survive. The decision was highly controversial at the time.

Mr Hebblethwaite told the Commons committee that he was “deeply sorry” for the impact of the firings on seafarers and their families and that he would not repeat such a move in future.

P&O is bracing for a surge in its labour costs after France introduced legislation requiring it to pay crews at least £9.95 an hour, compared with a basic rate of £2.86 now, or £4.87 with add-ons.

The new rules will also require operators to adopt a two weeks on, two weeks off shift pattern.

‘On reflection some of my comments might not have been as clear as I would have liked’