No-deal ferry crossings get underway despite Brexit delay

Extra ferry journeys have started running across the English Channel as part of a £46.6m taxpayer funded no-deal Brexit contingency plan, despite the UK’s withdrawal from the EU being postponed.

Brittany Ferries says ‘there is no turning back’ as all preparations were planned for today, when the country was expected to leave the EU, even though the journeys are no longer needed.

The firm’s 20 additional weekly trips are designed to ease pressure at Dover in the event of a no-deal and to keep a steady flow of vital supplies coming into the country.

An excess of £100m in contracts was awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT) in December to Brittany Ferries, DFDS and Seaborne Freight.

The six-month deals are aimed at securing the supply of goods like medicines, vaccines, infant formula milk, organs for transplants and chemicals for the energy industry.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling got himself into hot water over the £13.8m contract handed to Seaborne Freight – a company with no ships and no history of operating a service – which was cancelled shortly after.

He then came under fire after a £33m settlement was paid to Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel’s operator, over complaints it wasn’t considered over the ferry contract.

A spokeswoman for DFDS, which was awarded a £42.4m contract, would not confirm if it was running extra crossings.

Travel plans of more than 20,000 passengers with existing Brittany Ferries bookings have been altered as a result of the extra crossings.

The company said its ships will sail an additional 2,000 nautical miles every week and it has spent three months training on-board teams and is hiring 50 new members of staff for ports on both sides of the Channel.

A spokesperson for the firm added: ‘The reality is that we were committed as soon as we signed the contract and preparations began to deliver the dedicated NHS shipment channel. There is no turning back at this late stage because all the preparatory work is in place for March 29.’

The company said it is using its ‘best endeavours’ to resell freight capacity which isn’t been used by the DfT to reduce costs to the taxpayer.

A Government spokeswoman said: ‘Leaving with a deal is still our priority, but as a responsible Government it is only right that we push on with contingency measures.

‘The Government’s freight capacity contracts run for six months and are a vital part of wider contingency planning.

‘They provide capacity for critical goods, including vital medicines, to continue to enter the UK in a no-deal scenario.

‘Due to the agreed extension until 12 April, tickets for the first two weeks have been released for sale on the open market, which will minimise costs for the taxpayer.’