The deadlock was today broken in a high-profile business bust-up which meant a detained ferry carrying key supplies back and forth across the Irish Sea could leave Liverpool.
Top level talks have been ongoing since Thursday when the ECHO exclusively revealed how The Norbay, a P&O Ferries vessel was stranded in Seaforth.
It followed a dispute with Peel Ports, who own and administer the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool, and who demanded a cheque for nearly £600,000 of what they claimed were outstanding fees.
P&O disagreed with that figure, believed it was two thirds that amount, and asked for flexibility to pay the bill at a time when they are losing many tens of thousands pounds a day in revenue due to the global pandemic lockdown.
The shipping company also added that their key contact at The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company had been furloughed without their knowledge, interrupting their communications.
Now, an agreement has been reached, allowing the Norbay to set sail for Ireland within the next few hours, if necessary.
A P&O statement said: “I am pleased to confirm that normal service will be resumed from Liverpool.
"We are expecting to run our next service at 9pm tonight.”
The argument sparked anger as P&O were transporting food, medicines and other goods back and forth between Dublin and Merseyside to be supplied to the city and also the north of England.
Over the weekend, the impasse deepened with two more ferries also stranded at Dublin Port amid an ongoing stand-off between the company and the Port of Liverpool.
On the other side of the Irish Sea, two freight ferries - one owned by P&O and the other chartered by the company - were also unable to set sail for Liverpool because of the row.
The P&O-owned vessel in Dublin - the Norbank - was fully loaded and ready to depart when the incident unfolded in Liverpool.
As the company hastily tried to pursue alternatives, the Norbank was seen on Sunday undertaking ‘berthing’ trials at the Port of Mostyn in Flintshire, further up the coast.
The row was escalated to government circles in Ireland, with a senior official in the Department of the Taoiseach in Dublin saying if the dispute became protracted it could have implications for the supply chain in Ireland.
"The Department of Transport is engaging actively with P&O and other port companies to resolve the issues," Liz Canavan said on Friday.
The situation was clearly tense four days ago, with very pointed statements from both sides, P&O branding Peel Ports "irresponsible" while Peel suggested the company were "putting supply chains at risk" while urging them to use government financial interventions to resolve "short-term funding issues."
Peel Ports are expected to release their statement shortly.
