Future of Hull-Zeebrugge Ferry Jobs and Services

That this House is concerned by P&O Ferries’ plans to close the Hull-Zeebrugge route on which it is the sole operator and sell four roll-on roll-off ferries with the potential loss of eighty-one seafarer jobs in Hull and Dover; notes that P&O Ferries signed Critical Freight Grant contracts with the Government worth £14.5m to maintain six roll-on roll-off ferry routes during the Covid-19 lockdown, including a £1.2m payment to keep the Hull-Zeebrugge route running; further notes that over six million passengers and an estimated twenty million road freight units have been moved on P&O’s Hull-Zeebrugge fleet since 2001; is concerned by the lack of investment by the Port of Hull owner, ABP in lock and other infrastructure that would improve the viability of Hull-Zeebrugge freight and passenger services; recalls that P&O Ferries cut 1,000 maritime jobs from their UK operations in the summer; believes that the loss of this route would have dire economic and environmental consequences for Hull and the UK’s continental supply chain; and calls on the Government to use all policy levers, including a re-designed Waterborne Freight Grant to save UK seafarer jobs and critical freight capacity by attracting a new operator on this route.