P&O to change flag of UK ships to Cyprus ahead of Brexit

[editor]

Even the ships are leaving.

British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O will shift the registration of its UK vessels to Cyprus ahead of Britain’s departure from the European Union, in part to keep its tax arrangements in the bloc, the company said on Tuesday.

P&O currently has six UK-registered ships operating on the English Channel route to France, although it announced last month it was moving two of those to the Cyprus registry and one has already been transferred.

All commercial ships have to be registered, or flagged, with a country partly to comply with safety and environmental regulations.

The move could complicate any attempts by the UK government to secure extra space on ships to help cope with potential disruption to trade if it fails to secure a negotiated departure from the EU.

“In advance of Britain leaving the European Union on March 29, 2019, we undertook a review of the flag status of our ships on the English Channel,” a P&O spokesman said in a statement.

“For operational and accounting reasons, we have concluded that the best course of action is to re-flag all ships to be under the Cyprus flag.”

P&O to change flag of UK ships to Cyprus ahead of Brexit | Reuters

 

[SpackleFrog]

Even the ships are leaving.



P&O to change flag of UK ships to Cyprus ahead of Brexit | Reuters

Interesting that they chose Cyprus, which of course got the Greece treatment but not many people even seemed to notice at the time.

 

[CRI]

Maybe Sony is catching a lift with P & O - to Holland.

Sony relocates UK electronics HQ to the Netherlands in preparation of a no-deal Brexit

 

[Pickman's model]

Et tu p&o?

 

[DotCommunist]

flags of convenience

I have heard of this before, same thing here?

 

[skyscraper101]

I always assumed they were flagged in the Bahamas, for tax reasons.

 

[twentythreedom]

It's pretty unusual to see a nominally British commercial vessel actually flying the red ensign. Usually Panamanian, Bahamian, Liberian, Cypriot and others. So much for 'Rule Britannia'

From Dotty's link:

Panama, for example, offers the advantages of easier registration (often online) and the ability to employ cheaper foreign labour. Furthermore the foreign owners pay no income taxes

Nuff said

 

[TruXta]

It's pretty unusual to see a nominally British commercial vessel actually flying the red ensign. Usually Panamanian, Bahamian, Liberian, Cypriot and others. So much for 'Rule Britannia'

From Dotty's link:

It's the same in Norway. It's all about tax avoidance of course. Norway's richest man actually became a Cypriot citizen to avoid taxes, the humongous cunt.

This shit goes way way back

 

[MickiQ]

Well at least Seaborne Freight is still wholly Bristish eh? no word of them reflagging their ships elsewhere.

 

[twentythreedom]

Well at least Seaborne Freight is still wholly Bristish eh? no word of them reflagging their ships elsewhere.

What ships?

 

[CRI]

What ships?

 

[Yossarian]

"No Mrs May, we're sorry, countries can't do the same thing."

 

[cybershot]

Already feels like this and the dyson thread should be merged to track these. I think we’ll see many more before the end of March.

 

[existentialist]

Even the ships are leaving.



P&O to change flag of UK ships to Cyprus ahead of Brexit | Reuters

The ships are deserting the sinking rat.