Thousands of ferry passengers are stranded on both sides of the Channel as port workers in Calais stage strike action for the second time in a week.
The MyFerryLink workers walked out on Monday over the sale of the company’s ferries to rival DFDS Seaways.
Sailings between Dover and the French port are at a standstill, but services to Dunkirk are operating as normal.
The boss of P&O Ferries said security at Calais had been “abandoned” leaving passengers “caught in the middle”. Also, passengers using the Channel Tunnel are subject to delays following an earlier incident, Eurotunnel said.
Operation Stack, where lorries use part of the M20 to queue for Channel crossings, has been implemented coastbound between junctions eight and nine, for Maidstone and Ashford, as a result of the latest action. Non-freight traffic travelling to Dover has been urged to use the A2 and M2. Passengers hoping to travel to Calais by ferry have been urged to contact their ferry operators.
A strike which began on 23 June led to the suspension of Channel Tunnel services and saw hundreds of migrants try to board UK-bound lorries amid the chaos. The current strike action is expected to continue until Thursday, when DFDS officially takes over the MyFerryLink service. Helen Deeble, the chief executive of P&O Ferries, said: “Through no fault of their own, our passengers are caught in the middle of an industrial relations battle that has been caused by Eurotunnel. “This has left thousands of holidaymakers and lorry drivers stranded without adequate facilities.”
Calais Security Abandoned
She said the company’s staff had been “doing their best” to keep passengers supplied with food and water. “Let me be clear, the buck stops with the French Government. They have effectively abandoned any attempt to maintain security at the port of Calais,” Ms Deeble said. “When is the British government going to stand up to ensure that we can all get to mainland Europe safely and securely?” She said the industrial action was putting thousands of jobs at risk.
On Monday, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra. Speaking afterwards, he said: “We’re looking at the situation and working with the French government.”
Last week’s disruption lasted 36 hours and saw blockades at the French port and the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles.
Several Eurostar trains were also forced to return to St Pancras, while in France migrants sought to exploit the port strike by attempting to climb onboard UK-bound lorries caught in slow-moving traffic.