The popular Dublin-Liverpool route is set to cease at the end of the year.
The popular Dublin-Liverpool ferry route, operated by P&O Ferries, is set to stop at the end of the year as the company was unable to secure a berth in Liverpool for 2024.
There will likely be employment, trade, and environmental ramifications unless a solution is found.
Dublin-Liverpool route dropped – P&O Ferries unable to secure a berth in Liverpool
Two ferries currently serve the P&O Ferries route between Dublin and Liverpool. Between them, the two ships make 24 weekly sailings.
However, the route is set to be dropped by P&O Ferries at the end of this year as, despite “extensive negotiations”, the company was unable to secure a berth in the Port of Liverpool for 2024.
In a statement, P&O Ferries said that “it is impossible […] to continue operating on this route”. The statement continued, “P&O Ferries is committed to serving our Irish Sea customers and has explored all options to continue sailing on this route”.
But, ultimately, “no suitable alternative has been offered that would enable [P&O Ferries] to maintain the current service into 2024”.
Ramifications – what the loss of the Dublin-Liverpool route means
The most obvious ramification of the loss of the Dublin-Liverpool route is the loss of jobs both on land and onboard the ferry.
Freight drivers might also find their employment precarious due to the effect the loss of the route will have on trade between Ireland and the UK.
General Secretary of the UK’s National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT), Mick Lynch, said that P&O Ferries “cannot be trusted to operate economically vital ferry services”.
Lynch also called on the UK government to “scrap any shipping contracts they have with P&O and begin the process of banning them from operating in UK waters, as a matter of urgency”.
There are also environmental concerns regarding the loss of the Dublin-Liverpool route.
President of the Irish Road Haulage Association Eugene Drennan pointed out that many hauliers would now go through the Welsh town of Holyhead. This will lead to a great deal of traffic on Holyhead roads, negatively affecting hauliers’ carbon footprints.
The future – what will happen next
P&O Ferries has stated its intent to redeploy the two ferries on other routes. The company also plans to “offer support to affected colleagues to find alternative employment within our business, or where that is not possible, help to find employment elsewhere”.
However, given its track record, there is cause for concern. In 2022, P&O Ferries summarily dismissed 786 employees via video call, replacing them with third-party agency workers on considerably lesser pay.
P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite acknowledged that the company had knowingly acted illegally and told members of the UK parliament that he would do so again if necessary to “save the business”.
Regarding the other concerns raised, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan assured that alternative ferry operators could cope with the 3,000 freight units that travel from Dublin to Liverpool weekly.
Sinn Féin’s transport spokesperson Martin Kenny, however, has called on Ryan to “put every effort into saving this service”, adding that “as an island nation, we cannot underestimate the importance of these passenger and freight ferry services”.
