The Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund, a non-sectionalised multi-employer scheme for the shipping industry, has been paid close to £94m by P&O Ferries for historical deficits, releasing security it held over several vessels. The payment comes as the scheme is beginning work on its triennial valuation.

MNRPF’s trustees said the payment gives the scheme extra clarity for the actuarial valuation as at 31 March 2026 and the scheme’s future strategy, said MNRPF chair Donald Fleming, a professional trustee at Pi Partnership. 

“It’s positioned us well,” he told mallowstreet, and stressed that there has been a constructive dialogue with P&O and all employers. 

The payment related to deficit contributions arising from the 2014 and 2017 valuations, with P&O being one of the largest groups in the ‘last man standing’ MNRPF. 

The scheme’s next valuation is about to begin, but Fleming would not be drawn on what the funding level is expected to be. When asked whether a buy-in could be on the cards for the closed scheme, he said that “like every scheme, we are considering what the strategy is going to be”. 

Kasper Moos, chief executive of P&O Ferries, said: “Settling this liability to the MNRPF is the right outcome for the fund’s members, and we’re pleased to have been able to do so in full. This is a significant milestone as we continue delivering our business transformation.”  

The past deficit recovery payments that were settled in full were valued at £93.7m.  As a result of the company discharging the debt, various security arrangements over vessels owned by the Group were released, explained a spokesperson for P&O Ferries.  

“As of today, there are no outstanding past deficit recovery payments due to the MNRPF, but various P&O Ferries companies remain as participating employers in the scheme,” the spokesperson said. 

The RMT union welcomed the payment. General secretary Eddie Dempsey stressed the union’s campaigning in relation to P&O Ferries. 

“While this is good news for MNRPF members, it is also good news for other MNRPF participating employers who would have been left with P&O Ferries’ debt had it gone into administration,” he said. “RMT would like to congratulate the MNRPF trustees on successfully negotiating this payment, but we would like to make it clear that the campaign for justice for the 786 seafarers ruthlessly sacked by P&O Ferries continues,” he said. 

In 2022, P&O Ferries dismissed its entire crew via video call to replace them with low-paid international agency workers, sparking an outcry, while owners DP World said the ferry company’s financial position required drastic action. 

Regulators issued a warning in April 2022 urging former P&O Ferries workers to be cautious, over concerned at the time that the sudden redundancies put scheme members at risk of scams.