UK Awards $18 Million Brexit Shipping Contract to Company With No Ships

UK Awards $18 Million Brexit Shipping Contract to Company With No Ships
A passenger ferry sails across the English Channel towards the Port of Dover, United Kingdom, on Jan 9, 2016. Reuters/Toby Melville
|Updated:

LONDON—Britain’s transport minister has defended awarding an $18 million contract for shipping goods after Brexit to a new ferry company that owns no ships.

The government last week awarded three contracts to charter extra ferries to ease congestion if the United Kingdom fails to secure a trade deal before leaving the European Union in March.