A SEAFARER sacked by P&O Ferries has told how ships were stormed by security guards and taken over “like pirates” with employees told to disembark immediately.
Speaking exclusively to GB News this morning, the former employee described how they were sacked en masse after teams of security guards boarded the vessels and blocked all the exits.
He said: “The captain said there was going to be a big announcement. He didn’t sound quite right on the tannoy.
“Then the security guards started moving up, coming up the gangway onto the ship. They told everybody to go to the front bar, and all the security guards came along and blocked all the exits.
He added: “And then some man in a suit read out his statement and we were all told to pack our stuff, get off the ship as soon as possible and they’d lead us to our cabins to pack.
“It was unbelievable. It felt like we’ve been invaded by a load of pirates to be honest with you.”
The ex-employee called “Toby”, who wanted to stay anonymous, said a new crew was ushered on to the vessel after they were turfed off in Rotterdam and left stranded.
He said the situation came close to turning violent: “After that happened, they started bringing the crew on – I think they’re all Colombians, and we’re still at the front bar.
“That’s the only time it nearly kicked off on our ship because the crew was reacting bad enough from being sacked and there you are then the agency labour was taken upstairs and our chef went upstairs to check on the staff food and they were eating all of our staff food…
“It’s unbelievable. The way they treated us made you feel like you were worthless.
“We worked our butts off basically for the last two years and now it’s coming to the end like at the end of the tunnel – and you’re sacked.
“You get repaid by being sacked on the spot and replaced by slave labour. That’s what it is – slave labour.”
Toby was speaking in a report aired this morning during Breakfast With Eamonn and Isabel on GB News.
He said, to add insult to injury, he understood that the security was not there for their safety as the company has claimed but to prevent ships being vandalised.
“The security wasn’t even there for our safety, it was in case we vandalised the ship like the French did when they got sacked because they smashed their ships up big time.
“But I mean, we’re not. We’re English, we’re seafarers.
“On the gangway, we were asked our name and then handed an envelope with our redundancy offer on it.
He added: “Even if I was offered my job back, I wouldn’t take it.”
P&O did not deny that seafarers were not given food or a ticket home and apologised, telling reporter Ellie Costello that due to reasons outside their control arrangements had to be changed at the last minute.
