THE British Ports Association has hit out at the UK government’s bill, announced today, to introduce minimum wage regulation on ferries regularly servicing UK ports.

Announced today in the Queen’s Speech, the government says that it plans to implement the changes in the next parliamentary session following consultation with the ports and maritime sector on the new laws.

The bill is a reaction to P&O Ferries’ decision in March to replace its entire complement of 800 directly employed crew with cheaper agency staff, causing a public outcry. 

The new legislation seeks to provide UK ports with the powers to exclude any ferry company that does not pay the UK national minimum wage. However, ports have already stated that they do not want these powers as they lack the expertise and resources to undertake the task.

“The creation of new rules for ports to regulate ships in such a way is unprecedented. Enforcing the minimum wage is not an area where ports have a core competency. This should be a job for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency or HM Revenue & Customs,” said British Ports Association chief executive Richard Ballantyne.

“Ports facilitate the safe and efficient movement of ships, goods, passengers and maritime activities, safely and efficiently, they are not regulators,” he added.

Announcing the new legislation, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We will protect all seafarers regularly sailing in and out of UK ports and ensure they are not priced out of a job. Ferry operators which regularly call at UK ports will face consequences if they do not pay their workers fairly.”

Consultation on the proposed measures opens today, May 10, and will last for four weeks. It will seek to examine what sort of vessels could be included in addition to ferries, and what the enforcement measures will be. Options under consideration include suspending port access, surcharges and fines.

The first point appears to be the one of most contention. Ports do not have the right to refuse vessels entry due to legislation dating back to 1847, which expressly states that ports be open to all comers who can pay the required berthing fees.

Mr Ballantyne said: “It remains unclear whether the Bill will achieve the government’s aims of improving long-standing issues for seafarers. Our initial assessment is that it might not be compatible with the UK’s obligations under international treaties or the current principles which governs our independent ports sector.”

“Ministers believe they can get around this by placing an obligation on ports instead to make the arrangements ‘domestic’. The BPA is concerned at the expectations of the UK government to use ports as a tool to police shipping,” said Mr Ballantyne.