UK PM Boris Johnson says ferry firm's mass firings likely broke law

The British government said Wednesday that a Dubai government-owned ferry operator at the centre of a bitter UK labour dispute likely broke the law when it fired 786 crew members without notice to replace them with cheaper contract staff.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the callous behaviour of P&O Ferries and said the company appeared to have broken British labor laws.

We will be taking action, Johnson said, adding that the company could "face fines running into millions of pounds if it is found guilty.

P&O Ferries claimed the move was legal because the staff worked on ships registered outside the U.K. The ferry operator acknowledged that the way the dismissals were carried out caused distress for workers and said it had offered generous compensation to those involved.

But the company also said it couldn't have survived without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements and that it took the action to save 2,200 other jobs. The dismissed seafarers are being replaced by .