Scandal-hit P&O Ferries have suspended services this weekend and told customers to book with another operator after announcing they were getting ready to resume sailing.
The ferry operator had suspended services since March after firing 800 staff in a move that sparked fury with axed crew members being replaced by agency workers.
Writing on the Twitter account P&O Updates today, they said: "All P&O Ferries Passenger Services are suspended this weekend.
"For travel 8/9/10th April please re-book directly with another operator before arriving at the port."
The announcement will undoubtedly exacerbate the logjam on the M20 in which Operation Brock has been instigated, Kent Live reports.
On Wednesday, P&O announced it was getting ready to "resume services across a number of vital routes."
In a statement, the firm said: P&O is looking forward to welcoming back vital services and we expect to have two of our vessels ready to sail on the Dover-Calais route by next week, subject to regulatory signoff, namely both the Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain between Dover-Calais."
The announcement will undoubtedly exacerbate the logjam on the M20 in which Operation Brock has been instigated, Kent Live reports.
Today, which is the eighth day of travel disruption in Kent, there is a massive queue of traffic waiting to get into the Port of Dover.
Rival DFDS has warned of delays of up two hours on its services from Dover to Calais and that it is not accepting P&O customers.
Chris Parker, DFDS director, said it was running ferries as "fast as we can".
The ferry operator has more than 40,000 passengers booked on its services from Dover this weekend, a 50% increase on last weekend.
There is an anticipated 30,000,000 expected to hit the roads ahead of the Easter holidays.
Around 13.6million are expected on Good Friday alone.
With travel chaos set to continue this weekend as thousands of holidaymakers and truckers face further delays heading to the channel port of Dover, fears are mounting that the local council is set to declare a "major incident".
In an open letter Dover District Council leader, Trevor Bartlett, said the town would "not tolerate another weekend of gridlock".
Mr Bartlett added: "We will be monitoring the situation closely throughout the weekend and I will not hesitate to authorise DDC officers to declare a major incident if we see signs of the sort of congestion witnessed last weekend."
Declaring a major incident would "force the issue" and "trigger a more robust response" from authorities, Mr Bartlett said.
Passengers heading to the port are being advised to leave "plenty of extra time".
National Highways said: "All drivers planning to travel in or through Kent should plan ahead, follow diversion signs, check before they travel and leave plenty of extra time for their journey."
DFDS ferries is reporting delays of two hours on its services from Dover to Calais and is not accepting P&O customers.
DFDS director of capacity, Chris Parker, urged people not to travel to the port unless they had booked in advance.
DFDS had been taking P&O customers, left without transport when the firm sacked 800 staff and cancelled its services in March.
But It will not take these passengers over the "peak weekend".
Speaking on BBC Breakfast Mr Parker said: "We cannot take a full load of our own passengers and then have more passengers from P&O, we simply don't have the capacity.
"We took the decision that we would be better off to focus on our own passengers, and not disappoint P&O passengers arriving at the port.
"The worst thing is to have people turning up and for us to say 'we're really sorry but we do not have the space for you'.
"It's unfortunate."
All six DFDS ships are running on Friday at maximum capacity, with 54 sailings across the Channel.
Mr Parker urged people to make advanced bookings and not simply "turn up at the port".
He said: "We will not be able to process you".
A 23-mile stretch of the M20 in Kent remains closed as part of Operation Brock.
