P&O Calais boycott after French blockade

The Pride of Dover was on a trial run to the Belgian port of Ostende today after the largest operator of cross-Channel ferries declared that it had lost patience with the French Government for its failure to stand up to protesting trawlermen. P&O Ferries said that its crews had worked into the early hours to clear a backlog of around 700 trucks, 300 cars and seven coaches from its main terminal at Calais, in northern France, after the lifting of a blockade by fishermen seeking larger cod quotas. But even though services from Calais and Dunkirk were back to normal today, the port of Boulogne was still blocked by trawlers, and P&O said it was taking nothing for granted and was sending a ferry to test out Ostende, 50 miles (80km) up the Channel coast from Calais. After two days of blockades that left thousands of UK hauliers and holidaymakers stranded, it appeared that the French Agriculture Ministry had managed to buy off the fishermen with a €4 million grant to compensate them for days when they are unable to work because they have already reached EU-imposed quota limits. Services to Calais and Dunkirk were running normally today, but P&O, the dominant operator, warned against complacency given the long history of direct action by French workers. By last night, there were about 450 lorries stacked up on the M20 in Kent ready to cross into France. "The fishermen are trying to keep the initiative, so they've lifted the blockade at Dover and Calais but not Boulogne. I think they want to keep us guessing," said Brian Rees, spokesman for P&O, the dominant ferry operator.

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