P&O Ferries announced that it would be closing the Portsmouth–Bilbao route by the end of September to coincide with the end of its existing charter for Pride of Bilbao. This meant the closure of the final route served by P&O Ferries in Portsmouth. In January 2019 P&O Ferries announced that its UK fleet would be reflagged from Dover, UK to Limassol, Cyprus in response to the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union in 2019 "For operational and accounting reasons". Cyprus is a member of the EU and a flag of convenience; the reflagging will allow P&O to continue to benefit from EU tax arrangements. According to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, the reflagging is "pure opportunism", saying that the firm's "long-term aim has always been to switch the UK fleet to a tax haven register". On 20 February 2019, DP World announced it had repurchased P&O Ferries from Dubai World in a £322m deal. Since 2020 2022 staff sacking On 17 March 2022, P&O abruptly suspended its operations, cancelling all sailings and offloading passengers and cargo. Eight hundred UK staff were told in a video call that their employment was "terminated with immediate effect due to redundancy", and that their work would in future be undertaken by staff contracted to a third-party supplier. Staff on some ferries refused to leave their vessels. A spokesman for the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers said that there had been no consultation with the staff or trade unions. The Chair of the Transport Select Committee, Huw Merriman MP, criticised P&O. In the light of this action by P&O Ferries, the UK government stated it will review its contracts with this company. This has resulted in calls to boycott P&O Ferries including by members of the public, businesses in the travel trade and politicians. The method of the expulsion, overseen by ex-military security guards, has been criticised by several government and business leaders. Mark Russell, a non-executive director of DP World, resigned afterwards in disagreement with the way with which the restructuring was carried out. P&O Ferries has recently seen losses during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as deficits in its pension fund. Industry sources have also cited its high overheads and competition from Irish Ferries as potential contributory factors. Verity Slater, partner and expert in maritime employment law at Stephens Scown, commented that P&O may not have to follow