European Causeway is again under inspection by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) after a power failure left the vessel inoperable with passengers on board, in the aftermath of a mass firing of 800 of the company’s crew who were replaced by lower-paid agency workers
European Causeway spent nearly two hours adrift in the Irish Sea after losing power off the Northern Irish coast on 26 April.
Coast guard lifeboats, tugs, helicopters and Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria all attended the incident.
Reports from passengers said the power loss on board happened around 13:30 BST, with the vessel drifting to a stop and staff later informing passengers of engine problems and a distress call to the coast guard.
Maritime union Nautilus International blamed unfamiliarity of replacement crew as a factor in the incident and quoted P&O Ferries’ description of the vessel’s power outage as a “temporary mechanical issue”.
“New crew, lacking familiarity with the vessel will find it much more challenging to be able to confront ’mechanical issues’ when they emerge. This lack of skill and experience has resulted in a costly multi-agency governmental response to protect the lives of passengers placed at risk by the inadequacies of P&O Ferries’ operational changes,” Nautilus International executive officer Martyn Grey said.
European Causeway was detained by MCA in late March in Larne for “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training” after failing its Port State Control inspection, and the vessel was only cleared to sail later in April.
P&O Ferries said the vessel returned to port under its own power, accompanied by local tugboats. Later Tweets from P&O Ferries’ passenger sailings account blamed “a technical difficulty” for further cancelled sailings on European Causeway.
MCA released a statement saying, “Our surveyors are carrying out a full inspection of P&O Ferries’ vessel European Causeway. This follows the mechanical failure while it was at sea yesterday.”
MCA stressed the vessel is not under detention but requires inspection before it returns to full service.
“The MCA generally follows up all issues reported on passenger vessels to ensure the safety of those on board the vessel and that any issues are not so serious that they pose a threat to life or the environment. In the case of European Causeway, that meant following up the incident with an inspection,” the organisation’s statement said.
The MCA also said there are no further inspections of P&O Ferries at the moment but that reinspections would be undertaken when P&O Ferries gave the go ahead.
MCA said P&O Ferries’ vesselsPride of Hull, Norbay, Spirit of Britain andEuropean Highlander have been inspected and cleared to sail.
Pride of Kent remains under detention and the inspection of European Causeway is ongoing today, the group said.
Two other ferriesare yet to have their full Port State Control inspections.
22 April 2022
P&O Ferries has to date had three of its vessels detained by the UK’s MCA for defects including a lack of crew training.
European Causeway was detained by MCA in March with 31 deficiencies and seven grounds for detention including a lack of crew familiarity with the IMO-mandated Global Maritime Distress and Safety System and communication protocols. MCA said the vessel has since been cleared to sail.
Pride of Kent, however, has been in MCA detention in the UK port of Dover since 28 March, with the MCA citing 25 deficiencies and eight grounds for detention that included a lack of crew familiarity with operation of onboard machinery, lack of crew training in emergency fire drills and inoperative fast rescue craft.
Spirit of Britain also remains in detention, according to MCA, but the details of the grounds for detention have yet to be released.
P&O Ferries’ vessels European Highlander and Norbay are currently undergoing inspection, according to the MCA.
“Our surveyors are carrying out a full inspection of the P&O ferry, European Highlander before it returns to service to make sure it complies with international regulations on manning and safe operation, in particular, emergency procedures such as firefighting and evacuating the ship,” the MCA said.
The same inspections are underway for Norbay, according to the agency.
“The inspection of Norbay is ongoing.There are no further inspections of P&O Ferries at the moment but we will reinspect when requested by P&O Ferries,” the MCA said.
Of the eight ferries for which the UK Government mandated MCA inspections, four have undergone and two are undergoing inspections, and two have been cleared to sail, European Causeway and Pride of Hull.
“Two other ferries are yet to have their full Port State Control inspections including European Highlander, which was previously cleared to sail for a relocation voyage only,” the MCA said.
P&O Ferries’ Pride of Kent was detained in Dover on 28 March after failing an MCA inspection, and European Causeway was detained in late March in Larne after failing its Port State Control inspection, after 800 crew members were fired on 24 March and replaced with lower-paid agency workers.
At the time, an MCA spokesperson said, “The Pride of Kent has been detained due to failures on vessel documentation, crew familiarisation and training, and emergency equipment not functioning properly, indicating a failure of the implementation of a safety management system,” in response to maritime union Nautilus’ enquiry.
According to Nautilus, MCA inspectors carried out reduced checks aimed at ascertaining the vessel’s safe operation without cargo or passengers, but “crew familiarisation and safety procedures were still found wanting”.
P&O Ferries had previously stated it hoped to restart sailings from Dover on 31 March, Nautilus said.
The MCA said it has not been invited to carry out any further inspections at this time.
MCA inspections are carried out under the regulations set out in the Port State Control regime as defined in the Paris Memorandum of Understanding.
