THE CHIEF Executive of P&O ferries has apologised to the hundreds of ferry straff who were sacked without notice and replaced immediately last week.

Pete Hebblethwaite appeared before MPs today to explain his actions, which have been condemned by MPs, campaigners, trade unions and lawyers.

Within one minute of his evidence beginning today, he was asked if he was "in this mess because you don't know what you're doing, or you're just a shameless criminal?" by the chairman. 

He was also asked to confirm his salary - a basic rate of £325,000 a year with access to two bonus schemes, and was asked why he failed to consult with employees or trade unions before sacking them. 

He said that the company did not consult on the plans with unions because "no trade union" would accept the measures, even though he acknowledged it broke the law. 

He admitted that any consultation "would have been a sham". 

A total of 800 staff across the country were sacked on March 17, 2022, via a pre-recorded Zoom video, and those on the ships were escorted off by security staff.

Mr Hebblethwaite was asked to explain why he took this action and if he was a criminal, or just incompetent.

He responded: "Actually, before I answer that question, can I start please with an apology?

"Actually an apology to the seafarers that were affected on Thursday last week, an apology to their families, anpology to the 2200 of our employees who have had to face very difficult questions over the last week or so.

"I just want to reassure you the reason that you're hearing this, I guess, for the first time today is because I've spent the last week in the business talking to our people, one to one."

The CEO later said that the average seafarer who has been sacked was paid £36,000 a year - almost 10 times less than his basic salary. 

He was also challenged about the replacement staff who are to take the jobs of the British workers, who will be paid between  £5.15 and £6 an hour - much less than the minimum wage of £8.91. 

Gavin Newlands, SNP MP, said the rate was "modern day slavery". 

Labour MP Andy McDonald asked the CEO if could live on that salary, asking: "Could you sustain your lifestyle?"

Mr McDonald went on: “No, you couldn’t, could you?

“Why do you expect people who’ve got such responsible jobs to be able to do that?

“How do you expect them to be able to feed their families and pay their bills?”

The CEO did not answer. 

Questioned on whether he would sack Hebblethwaite for gross misconduct, Jesper Kristensen, chief operations officer for maritime services at DP World, which owns P&O, said: “I couldn’t imagine that we would do that, no.”

Asked if he had signed off the proposals, Mr Kristensen said: “DP World has been informed on a continuous basis on the situation at P&O Ferries, obviously, as the shareholder.

“We have also been informed of the evaluation that P&O Ferries have had in terms of different routes to making this business viable and sustainable.

“And eventually, also being informed and supporting the decision that was eventually taken.”

Asked by Tory MP Nus Ghani if he would repeat the action again now, Hebblethwaite stunned the committee by saying "I would make this decision again, I'm afraid." 

He argued that if this had not been done, the company would have closed and made 3000 people redundant rather than the 800 seafarers currently on the dole. 

He said: "The business was not viable. This is the only way for us to save this business and we have moved to a model that is internationally recognised and widely used across the globe and by our competitors."

In a bombshell statement, Mr Hebblethwaite said that the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was told of P&O's struggles during a meeting in Dubai with DP World executives in November last year.

He said that Mr Shapps was attending an expo in Dubai on November 22, and had a meeting with DP world officials, however he later added that there would have been little detail in the talks as nothing had been decided about the future of the staff and company at that stage. 

The CEO later said he had not been at the meeting, and he was unable to say who it was who spoke to Mr Shapps, nor could Mr Kristensen.

They agreed to write to the committee to confirm this.

Chris Loder, Tory MP, asked Hebblethwaite if he had risk-assessed the massive change to his business by sacking all the staff and immediately replacing him.

However the CEO said he had not personally seen such assessment.

Mr Loder said: "Do you mean to tell this committee that the chief executive has not signed off for safety risk assessments or massive change in your business?

"I hope the MCA [Maritime and Coastguard Agency] are listening to this because this is outrageous.

"I cannot believe that you can maintain your position, Sir. I'm so sorry.

"That you have signed off such enormous change and you have not directly seen the safety risk assessment..."