Cruise ships set to accommodate asylum seekers in Liverpool and Edinburgh despatched again to house owners after discovering nowhere to dock

Two large cruise ships set to accommodate 1,000 asylum seekers have been unable to search out wherever to dock and have been returned to their house owners, a senior supply has informed Sky News.

In June, Rishi Sunak introduced the federal government acquired two extra vessels, alongside the Bibby Stockholm barge – which arrived in Dorset today – as a part of continued efforts to chop down on lodge payments of £6m a day for these coming to the UK through small boat Channel crossings.

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Plans for one of many cruise ships to accommodate asylum seekers close to Liverpool have been scrapped after being declined by the port operator, and it’s understood one of many boats was additionally refused docking close to Edinburgh.

It will not be clear how a lot the federal government paid for the boats earlier than returning them to the proprietor.

A Home Office spokesperson mentioned they may not touch upon business preparations, however mentioned the federal government had been taking a look at a “range of accommodation options which offer better value for the British taxpayer than expensive hotels”.

The spokesperson added: “This is why we will be using alternative accommodation options, such as barges, which are more manageable for communities, as our European neighbours are doing”.

Last month, Mr Sunak mentioned Channel crossings have been down by a fifth in comparison with final 12 months and his plan to “stop the boats” was “starting to work”.

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Speaking from Kent, he mentioned housing asylum seekers on ships might “reduce pressures on local communities”, including that the Bibby Stockholm barge would “arrive in Portland in the next fortnight and we’ve secured another two today”.

The authorities wouldn’t affirm the names of the 2 different vessels or the corporate they have been acquired from.

The Bibby Stockholm, which has arrived in Dorset a month not on time, is because of begin housing asylum seekers within the coming weeks.