P&O ferries shutout: your consumer questions answered
All the company’s ferry services are currently suspended. P&O normally operates 14 services a day between Dover and Calais, three between Liverpool and Dublin, and seven on the increasingly important freight route between Larne in County Antrim and Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway. There is also normally an overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam. This has been cancelled, along with all other services.
On the Dover-Calais route there is plenty of capacity for those looking to take a car over to France. Rival operator DFDS has ferries running every 40 minutes or so to Calais or Dunkirk, with tickets starting at £70 for car drivers.
P&O ticket holders are being directed to these services, although it is unclear as to whether DFDS is accepting P&O tickets, or if passengers will have to buy new tickets.
In its latest posting, P&O says: “If travelling on our Dover/Calais route please arrive at the port as booked and we will arrange to get you away on an alternative carrier as quickly as possible. Once at the port please make your way to the DFDS check-in booths.”
Those hoping to take ferries to Ireland face having to switch ferry company, and to buy a new reservation. Stena Line runs from Cairnryan to Belfast while Irish Ferries operates from Holyhead to Dublin.
Those travelling from Hull to Rotterdam face the biggest disruption and longest drives. Stena offers Harwich to the Hook of Holland – the nearest replacement for those needing to travel urgently. P&O will have to refund passengers for crossings not taken.
With not many car drivers travelling on ferries right now, the biggest disruption to services will be to truck operators. Queues of trucks have already built up in Kent. The company accounts for about 15% of UK freight
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