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The final liquidation of Seafrance, the only French operator on the English Channel route between Dover and Calais now looks a near certainty as no new bids for the company emerged at the Monday deadline set by liquidators. Worse, blaming lack of co-operation from the maritime union involved, the DFDS Seaways/LD Lines announced on Monday that it would not be submitting any revised bid for the assets of Seafrance which, principally, comprise its fleet of four relatively modern cross-channel ferries. Seafrance ferries have now been tied up at Calais port terminal for over a month.

The only other bid on the table was from union backed co-operative SCOP, but their bid was unfunded, needing €50 million to progress matters  but only having received pledges of €15 million from possible community stakeholders.

Seafrance, a subsidiary of SNCF, employees 880 people on permanent contracts with most French based but with about 100 jobs in Dover also likely to go. This would follow Seafrance having already trimmed its workforce in 2010 when 725 jobs were lost. The DFDS/LD Lines bid would have seen about half the existing workforce retained to operate a reduced fleet of three ships but on Monday the maritime union turned down an invitation from the French Ministry of Transport to attend round table discussions involving the other bidder.

For travellers with existing Seafrance bookings, they should contact Seafrance on +44 (0) 845 458 0666 to speak to a member of staff.

Guide2Paysdelaloire comments: 

The demise of Seafrance would leave P & O Ferries as the sole operator on the Dover-Calais route, the shortest sea crossing between the UK and France. DFDS Seaways continue to operate the slightly longer route from Dover to Dunkirk.

Ironically, the SNCF plan to restructure Seafrance was vetoed by the European Commission as being contrary to competition rules yet, from the standpoint of the consumer,  the outcome looks as though there will be no competition on the Dover-Calais sea route at all. Some may argue that Eurotunnel is an obvious competitor yet prices for the undersea crossing are invariably significantly more expensive than the sea route. State aid, when the whole Channel Tunnel project looked to be faltering, never seemed to be a problem.

For those who used Seafrance, it will be missed. Boarding one of their early morning ferries at Dover, one almost had the feeling of having arrived in France yet being a stone’s throw from the White Cliffs with croissants and pain chocolat for breakfast being the order of the day instead of the ‘full English’. It’s a sad day for travellers on the English Channel.

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