Dubai-owned P&O Ferries axes jobs to stay afloat

Dubai-owned P&O Ferries on Thursday suspended sailings as it axed 800 jobs, or more than a quarter of staff, to keep the company afloat.

"As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices," the company owned by DP World said in a statement.

It comes after P&O earlier Thursday suspended its passenger and freight ships.

P&O Ferries operates four routes serving Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands.

"P&O Ferries is not going into liquidation," it said.

The group has ordered all its ships to return to dock.

P&O has been badly hit by fallout from Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions over the last two years.

"In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business," the group said Thursday.