UK employment laws, since some of its ships are not registered in Britain. On 24 March 2022, P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite confirmed before the Transport Select Committee of MPs that the management of the company acted unlawfully when it fired the crew members without consultation. Grant Shapps said that P&O Ferries should change the names of MS Spirit of Britain, MS Pride of Hull, MS Pride of Kent and MS Pride of Canterbury to remove all British references, were it found that P&O had broken the law. Shapps confirmed that the ships concerned would only be able to operate following full training and subsequent inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. On 24 March Shapps wrote to Hebblethwaite to give him "one final opportunity" to reinstate the 800 workers. On 29 March Hebblethwaite said he would not resign, despite two of the company’s vessels being impounded over safety concerns and said that the company would not reinstate the 800 workers it sacked. The controversy also caused P&O Cruises, another company originally owned by P&O but which was divested in 2000 and acquired by Carnival Corporation & plc in 2003, to suffer public backlash and to embark on an advertising campaign to clarify their separate ownership from P&O Ferries. On 25 April, it was reported that P&O Ferries was forced to reverse its attempt at pay cuts for the new workers. National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, also known as RMT Union, received reports of seafarers being asked to sign new contracts with reduced payment. Then, the union reported the company to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which made sure that the wages were not reduced. Other brands Over the years P&O Ferries operated various subsidiary ferry companies, each with their own distinctive name, these included: Pandoro Ltd and Ferrymasters Ltd P&O Irish Sea P&O European Ferries P&O Portsmouth P&O North Sea Ferries P&O Stena Line (joint venture) Operations Throughout its history, P&O Ferries has operated in five main areas, centred around Dover, Portsmouth, Southampton, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Dover P&O began ferry operations in Dover in 1976 with a route to Boulogne in France under the Normandy Ferries brand using the ferry MV Lion which had previously served on the former Burns & Laird Line route between Ardrossan and Belfast. Burns & Laird Line was part of the P&O Group at the time. P&O