P&O: REFLAGGING THE FLEET
Imagery of Britain’s colonialism and glorious seapower abounds and it’s good ammunition for propagandists of that certain event from June 2016.For example:
Farage: “the referendum was won without firing a bullet.’ (1)
Arron Banks ( major campaign contributer of ‘Leave’): “it was a war. We won.” (2)
However some didn’t allude to history, choosing instead to display their ignorance of British trading patterns:
Dominic Raab: “I hadn’t quite understood how reliant UK trade is on the Dover-Calais crossing.” (3)
Oh dear! – perhaps he thought imports/exports were lifted by dockers from rusty freighters in the Pool of London.And this is a government minister’s take on the Port of Dover, for as the rest of us all know the Dover-Calais crossings carry 17% of our goods.
But as any merchant seafarer shipping out of Dover knows too, the port and roads are a nightmare to traverse at the best of times: a slow, inefficient port bureaucracy is compounded by just one road through the town.For sure, predictions of delays in food, medicines and other vital goods would be accurate: the jams and delays otherwise are chaotic.
So why has P&O – the biggest player in ferries – decided to switch its fleet to the Cypriot flag?As William Langewiesche, author of the excellent ‘The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World’s Oceans’ says: “cost is the main issue in any flagging out:”
Flags of convenience are generally considered as registries of lower quality than closed registeries because of lower operating costs (4)
Briefly, it’s in the best interests of shipowners NOT to regulate. Got an expensive crew? Flag out and sack them – who will successfully protest?Tired of excessive regulation? Go to the Cypriot flag – there will be far less of that.It’s free enterprise at its freest ….. outside of coastal limits national sovereignty won’t matter.
Even P&O unashamedly confirm that “Brexit” is a reason and “for operational and accounting reasons, the best course of action is to re-flag our vessels under the Cyprus flag.” (5)They did state that British jobs would not be affected but in a broadside from Mr Mick Cash this is disputed who “demands immediate assurances jobs are not under threat.” (6)
Mr Cash – an avowed Leave advocate – is alarmed by this turn of events as also are 730 sea staff, but in the meantime we would have to believe management that jobs are safe.
Others are not so hopeful and in an editorial from the Irish Times which echoes concern about job losses in both UK and Ireland due to flagging out and port closures, this particular comment is aimed at Holyhead, a major port which voted Leave.
The headline reads: “When will people wake the f**k up?” (7) a clear warning to ports such as Holyhead and Dover which are in the firing line for the previously mentioned job reductions.
The Irish Times notes the massive money from Europe to such ports as well as the knock-on effect to both nations’ economies when the UK share of the social fund stops.
This bitter irony may be lost on the people of Dover and Holyhead.Did they foresee decreased prosperity would be on the cards when they voted to ‘take back our own laws’ (from the EU) in 2016?
It seems not. But in the world of fairy tales that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?
REFERENCES:
1) the poke.co (28 choice quotes….) – accessed 09.0919
2) ibid
3) ibid
4) Langewiesche, W. (2004) ‘The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World’s Oceans’
5) www.worldmaritimenews.co (P&O Ferries flagging out… – accessed 12.09.19
6) ibid
7) The Irish Times 24.11.18 ‘When will People Wake the F**k up’ – accessed 10.09.19