Sea France

[Nick65]

A French court gave the ailing state-owned ferry operator until Jan. 28 2012 to find a new buyer. SEAFRANCE will be well known to frequent ferry users. In the past, they were often the cheapest option, particularly when arriving without a booking. They are 100% owned by the French railways, SNCF and since October 2008 have been losing in the region of €3 million a month.

SEAFRANCE*, which mainly operates freight and passenger services between France and the UK, went into administration last year after losses of around $325 million. Sea France will cease trading on Jan. 29 if a buyout offer is not accepted.

A French court rejected a bid by Denmark’s DFDS to take over Sea France and gave the ailing state-owned ferry operator until Jan. 28 to find a new buyer. DFDS and France’s Louis Dreyfus group made a joint bid for certain Sea France assets worth a reported $7 million and offered to retain three of its four ships and 460 of its 800 strong onboard workforce.

In September 2010, the CFDT union rejected a plan for 400 redundancies as part of restructuring. Subsequently Sea France workers made a rival bid worth a nominal one euro [$1.35] that was also rejected by the Paris Commercial Court.

The court was tasked with deciding the company’s future after European Union regulators ruled that a $270 million bail out by the French government breached EU competition regulations. Sea France had suspended sailings for 48 hours “to safeguard passengers, crews, vehicles and ships” pending the court’s decision. Sailings are expected to resume later today.


*SeaFrance began operations between Dover and Calais in 1996 after the termination of a pooling agreement with Sealink (by then known as Stena Sealink Line) in 1995. The service initially began with the former Sealink vessels Fiesta and Côte d'Azur which became SeaFrance Cézanne and SeaFrance Renoir respectively after extensive refurbishments to create a distinctive French atmosphere on board. Former Sealink train ferry Nord Pas-de-Calais became the SeaFrance Nord Pas-de-Calais and operated as a freight only ferry though SeaFrance did market the ship to passengers as a quiet ship. The three vessels were later joined by the former Stena Londoner which became the SeaFrance Monet. SeaFrance quickly became the second busiest operator on the Dover - Calais route after P&O European Ferries and ahead of their former partners now known as Stena Line. In 1997 the SeaFrance Manet entered service after a five year charter to Stena Line for the Newhaven-Dieppe service, the ship essentially replaced the Monet which was later sold after being damaged in Calais. SeaFrance took delivery of the SeaFrance Rodin in 2001, their first new ship and the fastest Dover-Calais ferry. She was joined in 2005 by the SeaFrance Berlioz, a sister ship built at a different yard.

[mikexgough]

More news later....... My pal works for them..... they have been swaying this way for the last 10 yrs and it has got more dangerous for them over the past 4 or 5 years..... ironic how the LD lines/DFDS bid was thrown out..... and the workers Co-Op....oh well.... let you know more as it happens...

[briwy]

Well whilst its sad to see another company going in today's climate and people losing jobs I can't say I'm surprised.

Twice they have dropped us in the crap by being on strike when we've turned up at ports on a prebooked trip so decided never to use them again.

That kind of service doesn't help keep customers.

[mikexgough]

right.......it isn't only SF..... P&O are also in the crap... their new ships are owned by....the French Govt.... and leased to P&O and P&O are owned by Dubai..... oooerr....

The main catalyst is DB the German railways now runs the trains through the tunnel and with DFDS (Norfolk line as was) running freight subsidised crossings to dunkirk, the UK-France crossings are saturated....

One thing is for certain....if SF go.....then UP will go the price of Ferry crossings and probably DOUBLE what they are now........

[Harry]

We've already booked and paid for a return trip with SF for May 2012 via a deal offered at the Caravan Show at the NEC last month!

£46 return for our car and caravan.
No wonder they are going bust....we thought at the time the offer was too good to be true.

Good job we paid by credit card so we are at least protected from losing the dosh.

Good job we hadn't got around to pre booking our campsites.
We'll be watching progress with intrest.

H

[scanner]

Good job we paid by credit card so we are at least protected from losing the dosh.

There is a £100 minimum spend limit to get the Consumer Credit Act protection.

[mikexgough]

Nord Pays De Calais has offered to put up €10m to support SF...and help the Co-Op deal..... the DFDS/LD lines was only offering a paltry €5m.. Still 12th December is the day for any likely bidders for SF ...if not it is goodbye on Jan 29th 2012.....

Brittany Ferries is broke too.... P&O is all but Broke.... and leases their new ferries from the French Govt... ..... DFDS is okay due to freight traffic....and obviously is eyeing up SF berths into Calais if SF go under....

[mikexgough]

Well we all know SF was wound up...... Looking increasingly like Eurotunnel are to buy the 3 SF ferries to use on the Dover - Calais route.... They had bid pre the court hearing pre wind up but they were too late...
The Norman Arrow from LD/DFDS that is now operating on D-C route is having issues.... and not expected to last long on that route...

[mikexgough]

LD/DFDS launch a 2nd Ferry in late April..... Ghost of SeaFrance rises in the shadows.....
The fate of the 3 SF ferries is announced June 19th..... still looks like Eurotunnel are having them..

[briwy]

LD/DFDS launch a 2nd Ferry in late April..... Ghost of SeaFrance rises in the shadows.....
The fate of the 3 SF ferries is announced June 19th..... still looks like Eurotunnel are having them..

How are they going to get them through the tunnel????

[scanner]

LD/DFDS launch a 2nd Ferry in late April..... Ghost of SeaFrance rises in the shadows.....
The fate of the 3 SF ferries is announced June 19th..... still looks like Eurotunnel are having them..

How are they going to get them through the tunnel????

They aren't, they are starting a new venture called "Eurofunnel"

[mikexgough]

Well...... the saga continues.... Eurotunnel own 3 of the Sea France ships...... they are in Dunkirk just now.... they are hiring staff in France and the Old UK staff (if they can be arsed to go back.... ) and should be up and sailing soon... the Co-Op (nope not ours ) who are running the venture were hoping for a July start but looks like September now . It will be Dover/Calais and LD lines will be kicked off of the former SeaFrance crossing slots they snatched. DFDS/LD wanted to force the new "SF" to be Dover/Bolougne but the Paris court said non.......

[scanner]

It will be Dover/Calais and LD lines will be kicked off of the former SeaFrance crossing slots they snatched. DFDS/LD wanted to force the new "SF" to be Dover/Bolougne but the Paris court said non.......

I think they should have resurrected the old Folkestone - Boulogne service, they could then have reopened the harbour stations and been able to offer Eurostar a "through" train service in case the tunnel ever has another closure.

It would also save about 15 miles and the struggle through the hell that can be Dover if the wind blows a bit too hard and they have to close their Mickey Mouse "harbour" for safety reasons

[mikexgough]

Eurotransmanche is to be the new name I am told......

[scanner]

Eurotransmanche is to be the new name I am told......

Not Eurofunnel then?