P&O Ferries preparing to restart Dover-Calais route

P&O Ferries has said it is preparing to get its Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain ships back in action on the Dover-Calais route "by next week".

The ferries will need to pass inspections by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) before services can resume.

There has not yet been any confirmation that the inspections, which can take days, have been booked in.

Holiday-makers and lorry drivers have faced queues near Dover in recent days.

Bad weather and the disruption to P&O services had caused long queues of traffic as the Easter holidays started for some.

P&O Ferries had confirmed yesterday that all of its Dover-Calais routes would remain suspended this weekend, and that another ferry operator, DFDS, would not be able to take P&O customers.

The company expects the Pride of Kent and the Spirit of Britain will be sailing next week.

A P&O Ferries spokesperson said: "From this weekend, P&O Ferries are getting ready to resume services across a number of vital routes.

"P&O has been working closely with regulators to ensure our ships are safe to sail. P&O is looking forward to welcoming back vital services and we expect to have two of our vessels ready to sail on the Dover-Calais route by next week, subject to regulatory signoff," they added.

They also apologised to customers whose journeys had been cancelled or disrupted.

Following the no-notice sacking of 786 seafarers by P&O Ferries, passengers hoping to cross the channel have been left with fewer travel options.

The company said on Wednesday it was providing refunds to all passengers booked to travel with them who cannot get on alternative services.

Two P&O Ferries boats have been detained so far after failing to pass inspections by the MCA - including the Pride of Kent.

Safety concerns have been raised over the replacement of employees with less experienced agency workers paid less than the UK minimum wage.

The Pride of Kent was detained for a mix of reasons including failures on documentation, crew training and emergency equipment not working properly.

P&O Ferries hit out at the time, saying in a statement that inspections of its ships had reached "an unprecedent level of rigour" after interventions by ministers.

Another P&O Ferries vessel, the European Causeway - which runs between Larne and Cairnryan - failed an MCA Port State Control inspection in March. It is among the services P&O is getting ready to resume, along with the Pride of Hull, which runs services between Hull and Rotterdam.

In total, eight P&O Ferries need to be inspected so that the MCA is satisfied they are safe to carry passengers and freight.

The government recently announced a package of measures aimed at forcing P&O Ferries to "fundamentally rethink" its decision, which drew outrage from politicians, trade unions and the public. They included plans to create new laws giving ports the power to block ferries from docking in the UK if they do not pay their crew the national minimum wage.

Ferry industry groups, however, hit out at the transport secretary's plans, with the UK Major Ports Group saying they should not have to "be the police for the labour practices of ferry companies".

P&O's chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, has insisted that a U-turn on the redundancies would cause the company's total collapse, leading to a loss of an additional 2,200 jobs.

The company also faces criminal and civil investigations into the circumstances around the redundancies.