£14m ferry firm ‘copied rules from pizza takeaway’

THE start-up firm awarded a £14million Government contract to run ferry services copied its website small print from a takeaway firm, it was claimed yesterday.

Seaborne Freight, which has no ships, secured the deal to carry goods between Ramsgate and Ostend if Britain crashes out of the EU on March 29.

The Department for Transport’s decision descended further into farce when a member of the public spotted the bizarre clauses in Seaborne’s terms and conditions.

The small print, which was shared on Twitter, looked as if it had been written for a pizza firm, not a Channel ferry company.

It said: ‘It is the responsibility of the customer to thoroughly check the supplied goods before agreeing to pay for any meal/ order’ and ‘Delivery charges are calculated per order and based on (delivery details here)’. Seaborne said its preparations for launch include ‘ongoing updates’ of its website, including conditions. The DfT said the small print was posted ‘in error’ and had been rectified.

But Labour said the gaffe was further evidence that the contract, which has been defended by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, should not have been awarded.

Deputy leader Tom Watson tweeted: ‘Seaborne Freight. No ships, no trading history and website T&Cs copied and pasted from a takeaway delivery site.’

Labour transport spokesman Andy McDonald also raised concerns about Seaborne’s links with Albany shipping, a firm connected to an investment fund registered in Gibraltar. Last night, Channel 4 News claimed that a previous shipping company run by Seaborne chief executive Ben Sharp went bust in 2013 owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mercator International offered safe passage through the Red Sea and around Somalia. Mr Sharp firmly denied the allegations.

Channel 4 said Seaborne has yet to finalise contracts to operate at Ramsgate and Ostend.

Mr McDonald said: ‘Either the previous firm of this chap [Mr Sharp] went bust owing a lot of money or it didn’t. It is a very simple question for Mr Grayling to answer. There are huge issues for him to address. He has to come clean. It would be comical if it wasn’t so serious.’

The DfT said it was ‘aware of the career history of the leadership team at Seaborne Freight and due diligence confirmed there were no significant issues’.