A former P&O captain has slammed the company’s callous actions and questioned how it can safely train a new crew.
Val Plant, 61, was the chief officer on the European Highlander ship that takes crossings between Cairnryan and Larne.
He was sickened at the way lives are being turned upside down by the firings on faithful staff - many of whom are good friends.
And he claims that so many officers have been sacked that there may be no way to train a new cut-price foreign workforce to legally take the massive vessel to sea.
Plant, who lives in Stranraer, said: “I came here today to show solidarity with the many friends and former colleagues who are affected by this.
“I feel sickened to se what has happened and I’m appalled that P&O should be reduced to behaving like this. It’s the way they did it that I find extremely poor.
“I had one good friend tell me he was frogmarched off the ship and told he could have gis letter of enhanced redundancy of he went quietly and didn’t cause them any trouble. It’s appalling.”
Plant was a captain on “fast ferries” on the route for 19 years but moved to be chief officer on the big ferry six years ago, before retiring last year.
He said: “I am hearing P&O say they hope to get a safety certificate for the new crew in coming days and I’m at a loss to understand how they will achieve this.
“The guidelines state that new staff must be trained by people who have worked on board the specific vessel and there are very few of them left.
“Training must also be done on a ‘dynamic’ basis - while the boat is out at sea. As far as I can make out, the European Highlander has never moved since the jobs were axed. I note that two lifeboats on the starboard side have not moved either, which means they have not been involved in any essential training drills.”
Plant said that sailings throughout the UK could now face major issues through he lack of “pilot exemption certificates”, which allow boats to land without having a pilot from the local harbour on board.
He said: “The only way around this would be to take on board a pilot while at sea. It’s going to be a potential problem for P&O.”
P&O has been approached for comment.
