6 January 2026
RMT Press Office:
Seafarers union RMT, hit out at the Insolvency Service’s delayed civil investigation into P&O Ferries, which is eroding confidence in the law and allowing senior figures involved in the 2022 scandal to escape accountability.
Nearly four years after almost 800 UK seafarers were sacked by pre-recorded video message, the Insolvency Service’s civil probe into potential misconduct by P&O Ferries directors remains unresolved, despite such investigations typically concluding in a little over six months.
The investigation, launched on 1 April 2022, relates to the mass dismissal of directly employed seafarers and their replacement with agency crew, many of whom have since been paid below the National Minimum Wage.
RMT has warned that the failure to reach a conclusion risks sending a signal that even the most egregious corporate law-breaking can go unpunished, particularly when senior executives have already departed with bonus payments intact.
The union has also criticised the absence of any reference to the ongoing civil investigation in P&O Ferries’ recently published 2024 accounts.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Almost four years on from one of the most disgraceful acts of corporate law-breaking in modern British industrial history, workers are still waiting for answers.
"This situation raises serious questions about whether company law is being enforced in the public interest or quietly shelved when powerful employers are involved.
“Working people see directors walk away with bonuses intact at the same time as seafarers lost their livelihoods overnight.
"This case illustrates wider weaknesses in company law enforcement and raises questions as to whether regulators are able to act in the public interest when employers openly breach the law."
The union has written to the Insolvency Service demanding an update on its investigation and pointing out that further delay will make the organisation look "opaque and ineffective."
END
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Tagged with: RMT, Eddie Dempsey, P&O Ferries, Insolvency Service
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