Opposition demand answers after Seaborne Freight contract
8 January 2019 (updated on 8 January 2019)
Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald, asked the Government to provide details on the recently awarded contract to Seaborne Freight as part of its no-deal contingency planning.
This follows criticism faced by the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, after his department awarded a £14million contract to run cross-Channel ferries to Seaborne Freight, who do not currently own any ships and have never previously supplied a ferry service.
The Transport Secretary stated that a procurement exercise had taken place to secure additional ferry capacity in the event of no-deal. Three operators were awarded contracts: Brittany Ferries, DFDS and a third smaller contract to Seaborne Freight. Chris Grayling said that no money would be paid to these companies unless they are operating ferries.
Andy McDonald responded on behalf of the opposition, saying the £14million contract had been awarded "...to a company with no money, no ships, no track record, no employees, no ports, one telephone line and no working website or sailing schedule".
Image: PC
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