French ferry workers who have occupied two ships in protest against job losses are thought to have run amok on the vessels – drinking the bar dry and causing criminal damage.

The Rodin and Berlioz, which had operated under the MyFerryLink brand, have been occupied since the beginning of the month by strikers angry with the proposed lease of the vessels to Danish operator DFDS.

It is unclear how many are on board but reports have emerged they have helped themselves to drink and vandalised parts of the ship.

They have deployed evacuation slides and graffitied on the side of the boats, which are moored in Calais.

The boats were due to have been transferred to DFDS on July 2, after owners Eurotunnel decided to close its MyFerryLink business.

“The evacuation slides have been deployed and I believe there may be some damage to the interior of the ship but I have no idea what it is...” - Robin Wilkins, MyFerryLink

The Channel Tunnel operator gave up on the firm after a long legal battle against the competition authorities, which said it had too large a share of the cross-Channel market.

However, DFDS have so far only offered 202 jobs to the 600 French workers who ran the ships before they stopped sailing, a deal which was outright rejected by ferry workers’ cooperative the SCOP earlier this month.

Robin Wilkins, the managing director of defunct MyFerryLink, said: “I’m aware there’s some damage to the vessels.

“The evacuation slides have been deployed and I believe there may be some damage to the interior of the ship but I have no idea what it is.”

All 77 British staff who worked for MyFerryLink at Dover will be made redundant. About 20 staff have remained at the firm to refund customers and help passengers make alternative arrangements.

Mr Wilkins added: “It would have been sensible to realise that putting large numbers of jobs at risk in Calais was going to cause a volatile situation. It is an area with high unemployment.

“Putting 600 jobs at risk without any plan about how the situation will be addressed is asking for trouble.

“We regret any damage done to the vessels and the inconvenience to customers.”

“If they have been vandalised then we would strongly condemn that kind of behaviour...” - Carsten Jensen, DFDS Seaways

Meetings to resolve the situation this week have been delayed as many French workers have been on holiday for Bastille Day.

Carsten Jensen, senior vice president at DFDS Seaways, said: “The ships have not yet been handed over to us and so it is not possible for us to give an accurate picture of the state they are in.

“Once we have received the ships, we will make a full assessment of the condition they are in before they are sent for maintenance and refurbishment.

“If they have been vandalised then we would strongly condemn that kind of behaviour.”

Eurotunnel spokesman John Keefe said: “No one knows the state of the ships at the moment. This is something the authorities have to deal with. It’s a police matter.

“These ships have been occupied illegally but the police haven’t moved the workers on yet, which is strange considering it’s an illegal strike and occupation.

“I have heard plenty of rumours about damage on the ships but there is no proof one way or the other.”

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