British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O will re-flag its entire UK registered fleet to Cyprus ahead of Britain’s departure from the European Union to keep tax arrangements in the bloc, the company said on Tuesday.

Last month P&O said it was re-flagging two of its UK ships operating on the English Channel route to France to the Cyprus registry.

"In advance of Britain leaving the European Union on March 29, 2019, we undertook a review of the flag status of our ships on the English Channel," a P&O spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

"For operational and accounting reasons, we have concluded that the best course of action is to re-flag all ships to be under the Cyprus flag." 

Reporting by Jonathan Saul