UK awards no-deal Brexit ferry contracts worth £87m

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google
A picture taken on September 24, 2019 during a day of test in case of Brexit shows a view of the terminal Ferry in Calais, northern France. - French customs officials on Tuesday carried out their third dress rehearsal for a no-deal Brexit in as many weeks, submitting trucks in Calais to border checks, which exporters fear could act as a brake on cross-Channel trade. (Photo by DENIS CHARLET / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DENIS CHARLET/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The government has awarded contracts to several ferry companies to transport medicines in the even of a no-deal Brexit.

Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O and Stena Line are those in line to deliver supplies from 31 October after being awarded contracts worth £86.6m.

Read more: Brexit tunnel talks: What you need to know

The contracts will be in place for six months, a spokesperson revealed, with the aim of ensuring the delivery of essential products if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

If the contracts are cancelled, the UK will have to fork out £11.52m.

The UK previously paid firms £51m for the cancellation of no-deal ferry contracts when the Brexit deadline had to be extended in March.

Theresa May’s government also came in for heavy criticism due to awarding a contract to a company that had no ferries, Seaborne Freight, after the Irish firm backing the deal pulled out.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK is getting ready to leave the EU on the 31 October and, like any sensible government, we are preparing for all outcomes.

“Our decisive action means freight operators will be ready and waiting to transport vital medicines into the country from the moment we leave.”

Read more: Brexit talks intensify as bid to thrash out a deal continues in Brussels

Ferries will move along routes away from the busiest ports in order to minimise disruption.

They will run between Teesport, Hull, Killingholme, Felixstowe, Harwich, Tilbury, Portsmouth and Poole in the UK and Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre, Zeebrugge, Hook of Holland, Rotterdam, Europort, and Vlaardingen across Europe.