The claim comes from a local newspaper, Nord Littoral, which said the chaos that affected 6,000 travellers allowed staff to carry off items like TV sets, paint and sport equipment from the 33,796-gt Rodin (built 2001) and the 33,940-gt Berlioz (built 2005).
“The port was blocked because of coffee capsules,” the newspaper said.
A ferry worker who is not a union member was cited as saying: “Basically they wanted to get the material for themselves - mainly the coffee machines.”
The protesters belong to a union-run cooperative or Scop that is facing bankruptcy after the two ferries it used to hire were sold by Eurotunnel to DFDS Seaways.
Workers said the goods belonged to their cooperative. Eurotunnel said some belonged to it.
TradeWinds has since reported that DFDS has struck a deal with the employees.
