Mersey Docks & Harbour Board

[vic mcclymont]

MD&HB which is owned by Peelports has according to the BBC prevented a P&O ferry from leaving Liverpool. The ferry was due to sail from Liverpool to Dublin with food and vital medicines was prevented from sailing.
The Harbour alleges that P&O owe the Harbour company £600,000. Effectively the ship has been arrested.
Vic

[Chris Allman]

Peel Ports-controlled Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, who are operators of the docks at Liverpool, has prevented P&O Ferries’ Liverpool-Dublin freight-oriented ro-pax NORBAY from sailing on 16 April following a payment dispute..

In a press release, P&O Ferries highlighted that NORBAY was a key ship carrying food, medicine and other supplies that were of paramount importance in times of COVID-19.

The ferry operator was presented with a sudden demand for payment of almost £600,000. P&O said it believed it owed much less than this amount and that the firm had been in ongoing discussions with the port authorities – until their key contact was furloughed and the port neglected to tell them.

According to P&O Ferries, the Liverpool port authorities unnecessarily escalated matters without any reasonable warning or proper procedure, commenting: "We have been in open discussions since this crisis began with all of our ports and network to ensure that we can manage payments while everyone deals with this unprecedented situation.
"We had asked for flexibility in the time required to pay but the Liverpool port refused to respond, even though we were committing to full payment.
"Then we learned that our point of contact had been furloughed and they didn't tell us.
"The irresponsible and unnecessary actions of The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company Limited at a time of national crisis have closed an essential Liverpool-Dublin supply route, which means vital goods will not be able to flow between the UK, Ireland and Europe."

The COVID-19 crisis earlier prompted Dover-headquartered P&O Ferries to furlough over 1,000 employees, topping up their salary to full basic pay. It is still in discussion with nine unions in five countries to keep as many jobs as possible. P&O Ferries says it brings in about 15 per cent of all the goods that the UK uses. This includes large volumes of food and medical supplies, according to the DP World-owned company."

Seems very draconian by Peel Ports to me, especially at this present time - £600.000 to them is peanuts compared with what they are spending and reaping from other operations.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Seems like new blood trying to make a name for themselves, could backfire on them like it did on the U S Deputy of the Navy

[Chris Allman]

To be honest Ivan I can see P&O pulling out of Liverpool over this. Peel are unbelievable really, do not have a very good reputation in Merseyside and are obviously just after money and never mind the consequences. Totally disgusted with them, as are many local people here. NORBAY is trapped here in Liverpool and NORBANK is trapped in Dublin. Seems to me Peel want to get a grip of themselves as these are not normal times and they could lose a lot of custom because of this petty and petulant behaviour.

[vic mcclymont]

I wrote months ago how Peelports act or are acting over the Inchgreen Drydock Greenock.
A despicable company in my opinion.
Vic

[Ivan Cloherty]

Is not Peel Ports now run by principals in Abu Dhabi who must be feeling the oil sales pinch by now

[Chris Allman]

As far as I know Ivan the empire is partly owned by John Whittaker, Deutshe Bank investment arm DWS and they have now just sold 25% of shares to AustralianSuper a Melbourne based investment company.

[vic mcclymont]

The structure is complicated but I believe is ultimately controlled by he Whittaker family trust in the Isle of Man.
Vic

[vic mcclymont]

The knock on effect of this action is that two ferry's with supplies bound for the UK are held up in Dublin.
P&O do not dispute that they owe money it is the amount claimed that they dispute.
P&O Ferries are actively discussing using another Port instead of Liverpool.
Could be getting interesting.
Vic

[Ivan Cloherty]

So as is normal in these disputes, the parties should nominate to go to arbitration, and until such parties actually attend arbitration then the money is placed in an escrow account and business continues as per usual, the money can be lodged in a number of ways, none of which require a hard cash transfer, it can be by Letter of Credit, etc. This is the accepted maritime practice.