P&O Ferries will send two of its Dover ships for refitting and upgrading in Poland in a £14 million deal.

The Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Burgundy will be among four going for the work at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk.

The 180 metre long vessels, which can sail up to 10 times a day across the Channel, will travel to the Baltic during this quarter for major life extension work.

The other two ships are the 32,000-ton Pride of York and Pride of Bruges from the Hull-Zeebrugge route.

The ferry and logistics company has agreed contracts worth £14 million in total with the yard and other subcontractors, including Kent-based Hartman Marine Services Ltd for work on the engines.

Derby-based Landmark Flooring and Manchester-based WDC Creative will be used for the design of the on-board restaurants.

P&O Ferries services on both routes will run as normal during the re-fit season as replacement ships have been brought.

John Garner, the company’s fleet director, said: “In order to reduce the time that the ships are out of service to an absolute minimum, subcontractors will begin work preparing the car decks and passenger areas as soon as they begin the two day journey to Gdansk.

“At the yard itself, the ships will benefit from work to strengthen their steel infrastructure, machinery upgrades to the main engines and generators and blast and paint work to the hulls.”