A P&O Ferries vessel is under Port State Control (PSC) inspection for the fourth time on Monday after it failed three previous inspections.
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said a team of surveyors was “carrying out a reinspection of Pride of Kent at the request of P&O Ferries.”
The vessel has been moored at the Port of Dover in Kent since March 17 when P&O Ferries sacked 786 UK-based crew members to replace them with cheaper agency workers and suspended most of its operations.
After British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps ordered detailed PSC inspections of all P&O vessels before they could resume sailing, five of the eight vessels subject to inspection have been cleared to sail.
Pride of Kent, which normally serves between Dover and the French port of Calais, was detained on March 28 after undergoing the first inspection.
A second inspection on April 14 found “additional deficiencies” in the vessel, which remained under detention after failing a third inspection on May 3.
The inability of Pride of Kent to pass a safety inspection has contributed to a shortage of capacity between Dover and Calais.
P&O Ferries finally resumed tourist sailings on the key route last week but is only able to use one of its ships, Spirit of Britain, which was cleared to sail after an initial probe found 23 failings including that the agency staff did not know how to use the onboard life-saving equipment.
Two other vessels which normally operate between Dover and Calais—Pride of Canterbury and Spirit of France—remain out of action as they have not been inspected.
Thirty-one safety failures were found by the MCA on another ferry, European Causeway, resulting in it being detained on March 25.
It was cleared to sail on April 8 but suffered a power failure that left it adrift in the Irish Sea for more than an hour on April 26.
The MCA cleared the vessel two days later, saying its shaft generator is not to be used for the provision of the main power but it can rely on other generators for its electricity use.
Two other vessels, Pride of Hull and Norbay, were cleared to sail on first inspections; while a small number of deficiencies were initially found in the European Highlander, which was cleared to sail last month.
Politicians and trade unions have raised concerns about the safety of P&O Ferries following the mass sackings.
These have been strongly disputed by the company.
Last week chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite hit out at “misinformation” about the firm.
