Just a heads up really, SeaFrance has gone into administration. I hope no one on here had any pre booked tickets!
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Saw in the week that there were "issues" Shame as after losing the other lot who were doing cheap crossings I wonder if this could spell the end of cheap crossings
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goes to suggest that "cheap crossings" were in fact too cheap. You need to make money to survive.
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They got us out of schtuck when the tunnel went up in flames a few yrs ago. Got us back to Dover only 2hrs later than our scheduled tunnel crossing would have done.
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They couldn't rely on the tunnel self combusting every year.
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It didn't help that the crews went on strike so often that it was reminiscent of BL in the 70's !
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The service was suspended this week as some of the crews were threatening to hi jack the ferries, and as this has happened before when a French state owned ferry company was privatised they were not taking any chances !
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The company's website hints that services will resume at some point. Other news sources say services will continue only until January.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Thu 17 Nov 11 at 20:19
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Unless they're fully refinanced in next 48hrs I reckon it's curtains. Who's going to book for their summer hols with a carrier in a fiscal bog?
Could be a return to the bad old days of a duopoly but OTOH LD lines were said to be interested in buying.
While the £300+ summer crossings of the early noughties were a rip off the sub £100 Dover/Dunkirk return I bought last July was unsutainable.
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Telegraph & Times said it was inconceivable that a bust company can still trade.
2 x offers turned down (DFDS & French shipping company. DFDS wanted 3 ships and a fraction od the staff)BUT and it is still expected to rise from the ashes - French Govt pulling the strings in a French Management lead company.
Tax payer subsidy is against EU laws but we are talking the French Government+French jobs and French Ferries so anything is possible.
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>> I hope no one on here has pre booked tickets
When I used them for a couple of commercial crossings a few years ago, we book the tickets over the phone no more than a few hours in advance. I then collected them from the shipping agents' offices on Dover seafront, on my way to the ferry terminal.
Interesting things, freight ferries. Like a much bigger version of the Woolwich ferry, with a Little Chef perched on top.
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I'm due to buy a set of 10 Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller crossings early next year and now I'm wondering if this will see them increase their prices so I might bring that forward.
But then it is the French so the EU ban on government intervention doesn't necessarily apply.
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>> I'm due to buy a set of 10 Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller crossings early next year
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Be very careful!
I had these a few years ago and found it impossible to book crossings when I wanted, even though there was availability on the same crossings for 'normal' bookings. The key is the 'subject to availability' get-out in the T&C. Basically each crossing only has a limited number available to Frequent Travellers, and unless you book really really early you can't use the cheap tickets. I had a big argument with them and got a partial refund in the end.
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Damn. Bang goes my nice, cheap route back to Blighty.
The time on the ferry made for a handy break and the use of Dunkirk meant that a useful proportion of the additional crossing time was compensated for by not having to waffle down the coast to Calais.
I was wondering how they did it for the money, I guess they were too.
I suppose we have the economic downturn to thank for this. I doubt there are as many Eastern Europeans going back and forth for the migrant worker jobs these days. That Dunkirk / Dover run was always loaded to the gunwales with 'em.
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I checked on the prices of DFDS Dover/Dunkerque and they are still as cheap as £29 one way depending on date and time. But for how long, though? If you know your dates, book now!
Yes, TC, I've seen a good few Polish cars on that crossing. The ferry was, as you say, "loaded to the gunwales with 'em" and some of their cars were loaded to the gunwales too.
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Just booked a return for £39 plus £1 debit card fee at the beginning of December. Off to Bruges for 3 nights (the tourist department promotes 3 nights for the price of two deal for most of December. Hotel for £200 plus £40 for ferry ain't bad.
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Delightful city! May a recommend a visit to the Chocolate Museum and any one of the many canal boat trips. Some restaurants serve a very tasty dish of chicken cooked in beer!.. Majestic wine in Calais is worth a visit too, if you have space in the car!
www.choco-story.be/ENG/
Also had a splendid meal here - Michelin 1* but kept simple. tinyurl.com/cvruerj
Enjoy your trip!!!!
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I have just read this on a ferrysavers website:
"Service Announcement
We wish to advise all our customers that Seafrance are in the process of resuming sailings between Dover and Calais, with a final decision on their future being made on the 28th January 2012.
With Christmas rapidly approaching we would urge customers to book their crossings to Calais with P&O Ferries as soon as possible to avoid disappointment and uncertainty. There may be limited capacity over this peak period. DFDS services to Dunkirk and Eurotunnel services are operating as normal."
They are advertising seaFrance crossings for next year from £64 return.
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Are "They" Ferrysavers or Sea France themselves?
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-15760675
Dont really understand where the money is coming from to carry on operations until 28th Jan though ?
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Thank you. Latest I can find (one day old) is www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/future-of-seafrance-in-doubt-as-operator-fails-to-resume-services/
Someone offered 5 million euros which was too low for the administrators. I should think so! How many ferries do they own and what are they worth"
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Presumably any buyer will have to take on the liabilites hence the even lower offer of E1 from and employee co-op.
Whichever way you look at it the route is overcrowded. Even in JUly/Aug and even charging fares a third of what they were 10yrs ago ferries were less than half full. Good for the holidaymaker but not sustainable.
Are P&O or DFDS making a profit?
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I read this morning that the main union is going to the High Court in Paris on Tuesday in a bid to get the service started again and sailings could begin on Wednesday. Apparently they have now persuaded the regional authority to borrow money to buy itself into the operation - but why on earth would anyone want to? The region will get the ferry passengers one way or another.
I can't help wondering whether the union - which considers its members 'locked out' at the moment - is trying to get the service started again so they can 'hijack' the boats. This has happened with a French ferry company before, but not on the Channel, AFAIK.
I don't think I'd be queuing up to travel with Seafrance...
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DFDS and P&O run larger more modern boats and have most of the commercial trade which is where the money is. Holidaymakers are just the icing on the cake.
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What's the latest on this? There was traffic news on the radio last week saying SeaFrance sailings were off again.
Meanwhile DFDS have emailed their customers announcing they've added a fourth ship - LD lines Norman Spirit leased in to add extra rotations to Dunkerque - service now every 90 mins instead of alternate hours.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 5 Dec 11 at 19:43
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Just tried booking Sea France for May 2012 for a trip to Keukenhof and got offered DFDS tp Dunkerque @ £58 return. Tried Sea France again, for this month and got a dead link and couldn't book at all.
This link says No Sailings and a decision re any take-over on 12th December
www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/News/Travel-Sites/UPDATE-Seafrance-sailing-still-on-hold/_ch1_nw1805
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Sea France's own website still says services will resume once 'safe operation of the ships' is assured.
www.seafrance.com/cs/sf_resources/jsp/SiteCrisis_en.jsp
Unless they can re-launch very soon with funding to run through the summer they're dead.
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France’s Transport minister, officials from SNCF and the Nord Pas de Calais regional council and the CFDT staff union will meet in Paris today (25th November) to discuss the takeover bid for SeaFrance by a co-operative of its workers.
The bid, which focuses on retaining the cross-Channel ferry operator’s 880-strong permanent workforce and its four ferries, was deemed unsatisfactory by a Paris commercial court at a hearing on 16 November – its financing being described as “non-existent”.
The co-operative requires between €25-30 million in start-up capital.
The court also turned down a joint bid from DFDS and LD Lines and has invited new offers to be submitted by 12 December.
Following a meeting last weekend, Transport Minister Thierry Mariani and a CFDT delegation agreed to exchange information on the bid and to try and find a partner to support it ahead of today’s meeting.
However, in an interview an interview on a French radio station earlier today, Mariani cast doubt on the feasibility of the workers’ bid.
“I am not convinced that something can come out of this project, but we must try everything to see if it is a credible option,” he said, ahead of today’s meeting.
This week, the Nord Pas de Calais council indicated it was ready to contribute around €10 million to the co-op bid, if the state and SNCF also made a financial commitment.
Mariani said the council’s offer was “a positive point to be explored in the coming days.”
He called on SNCF, as SeaFrance’s parent company, to participate in the bid, while underlining the necessity of finding a private sector partner.
The co-op’ s bid has since received a boost from municipal authorities in the region around Calais who are ready to put up €2 million, a union official told IFW.
“We now have promises of capital totalling of €12-13 million, and at the meeting we’ll be asking SNCF and the state to pledge their financial support, so that our project can move forward.
“We are optimistic our demands will be heard,” the official added.
Commenting on the suspension of SeaFrance’s activities since 15 November on the grounds that the safety of vessels, staff and property cannot be guaranteed, he said: “This action is completely unjustified and based on unfounded fears that the union is ready to damage SeaFrance property. This is unthinkable when we’re piloting a bid for the company.
Following a legal appeal by the CFDT that the shut-down amounted to an illegal lock-out, a court appointed a mediator to determine whether the necessary conditions were in place to allow SeaFrance to sail again.
His mission is due to be completed on 2 December, but through its lawyer, the union is pushing for this deadline to be shortened, the official said.
One of SeaFrance’s ferries, the Nord Pas de Calais freighter, is currently stuck in Dover, having been in the port when the decision was taken to suspend activities.
Last edited by: Robbie34 on Tue 6 Dec 11 at 14:40
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BBC just announced that Seafrance has gone bust.
The courts rejected the bid for the co-operative to run things.
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Who would believe that Sarkozy would allow Sea France to fail?
The EU Competition heavies, at the behest of other Ferry owners, must have been breathing down Sarkozy's neck for the company to die.
Of course it is the fault of the UK...........Strikes in Calais in the coming weeks?
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It looks like the service may re start, with the new owners, Eurotunnel leasing the ships out....
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18400271
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Seafrance in administration - mikeyb
