A shipping firm handed a £13.8m contract to run extra ferries in the event of a no-deal Brexit, has defended itself amid criticism it doesn’t currently have any ships.
Questions were raised over the Government’s preparations after it emerged Seaborne Freight was one of three companies awarded contracts totalling £108m last week to lay on additional freight crossings to ease the pressure on Dover.
Seaborne said it was on track to start twice-daily sailings by the end of March when the UK is due to leave the EU having initially planned to launch Ramsgate-Ostend crossings during February.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: This contract was awarded in the full knowledge that Seaborne Freight is a new shipping provider, and that the extra capacity and vessels would be provided as part of its first services.
As with all contracts, we carefully vetted the company’s commercial, technical and financial position in detail before making the award.
Seaborne said its difficulties included narrow berths at the Kent port.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, a campaigner for a second referendum, said: We know our ports aren’t ready for a no-deal disaster, but is hiring a firm that’s never dealt with this kind of thing before really going to help?
“This idea should have been sunk before it saw the light of day”, she concluded.