Though of course the Sheikh’s reputation had already been severely damaged by revelations in the High Court that he orchestrated the abductions of two of his children – including one off the streets of Cambridge – and subjected his youngest wife to a campaign of “intimidation”.

Attempts to blame union intransigence for what has taken place at P&O are too easy. Sure, their aggressive tactics and reticence to negotiate are often counter-productive. It may also be the case that cuts to pay and benefits would have eased P&O’s financial distress but to allow the owners to blame outside factors risks giving them a free pass.

The pandemic is a red herring too. True, the world of travel came to a stop as a result of Covid, blowing a £105m hole in its bottom line last year, but this is an organisation that paid its shareholders a very generous £270m dividend in 2020.

A more responsible steward would have ensured that money was used to prop up the parts of its empire that were struggling, an empire that generated pre-tax earnings of $3.8bn (£2.9bn) in 2021. Instead it provided just £40m of support in the form of two separate loans. Those should now be written off as a gesture of goodwill.

The Government doesn’t get away scot free in all this. According to reports, it knew about P&O’s plans the night before. A swifter response might have avoided the chaotic scenes at the four ports from where it operates – Dover, Hull, Liverpool, and Cairnryan in south-west Scotland.

A more proactive Government might also have intervened in 2020 when DP World was demanding a £150m Covid bailout to support P&O. In the end it is thought to have still received £33m. And again in January, when Labour demanded an investigation after it emerged DP World had contributed towards the £147m prize money for the 2022 European Golf Tour despite a £146m pension deficit at P&O.