Eurotunnel News

Long queues of holidaymakers and lorries built up on Saturday outside the Port of Dover, Britain's main gateway to Europe, and officials said the disruption could be worse than the logjam seen on Friday.Travelers setting out at the start of the British school summer holidays, as well as the usual flow of goods lorries, have faced long delays because of slow border checks.The Kent Resilience Forum, which brings together local councils and emergency services, declared a "major incident"…

Britain's transport minister was under fresh pressure to resign after the government stacked up a 50 million pound ($65 million) loss for cancelling contracts to charter extra ferries to bring in essential supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit.The decision to award the contracts has been a major political embarrassment after it emerged the government handed out a 14 million pound contract for extra ferries to a company that owned no ferries and published terms and conditions on its website that appeared to be for a takeaway food business.Then…

Mechanica Utilities Ltd has formed a new company to specialize in supporting the maritime sector in the U.K. and overseas.Having worked nationally in partnership with several marine engineering companies for very many years, Mechanica Utilities has stepped into to fill the void generated by ship repairer Burgess Marine’s recent sale and the vast reduction in its Dover footprint.The newly formed company Mechanica Marine, which acquired and redeveloped a marine engineering purposed 25…

A deal was reached on Monday to save hundreds of ferry jobs at the northern French port of Calais, the French transport minister said, ending a dispute that has disrupted traffic through the Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain. Workers at ferry service MyFerryLink had intermittently blocked the port and the tunnel in recent weeks in a protest over job cuts, after the company, previously owned by Eurotunnel , was sold to Denmark's DFDS. The dispute has added to public order concerns in Calais…

Protesting ferry-workers blocked road access to the northern French port of Calais with burning tyres on Friday, police said. The workers have in recent weeks intermittently blocked the port and sometimes the Channel Tunnel in a protest over job cuts after tunnel operator Eurotunnel agreed to sell its MyFerryLink ferry unit to Danish-owned DFDS. The French government has sought to intervene and propose a solution, but no accord has yet been found. The dispute has added to disruption around the northern port, also struggling to deal with nightly attempts by hundreds of migrants to sneak through the tunnel into Britain. (Reporting by Pierre Savary

DFDS Seaways Calais-Dover ferry service, suspended by a workers' blockade of Calais port during the weekend, will resume on Tuesday morning, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said after talks with the parties involved. Ferry workers, industry executives, the Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel and the French government are due to reconvene later this week for further talks to settle the labour dispute after breaking up without agreement on Monday, Vidalies said in a statement.

The French government unveiled proposals on Thursday to save local ferry jobs and end a stand-off in the port of Calais in northern France that has repeatedly disrupted traffic in the Channel Tunnel. Some 500 workers at ferry service MyFerryLink have blocked traffic around the port in a protest aimed at preventing job cuts after their company, previously owned by Eurotunnel , was sold to a Danish company, DFDS. The Transport Ministry proposals include a commitment by Eurotunnel to establish a ferry charter contract that will save 150 jobs. DFDS will also hire 230 MyferryLink workers and the ministry said it would seek employment options for remaining workers within three months.

Channel Tunnel rail operator Eurostar has reported record quarterly passenger numbers despite the disruption caused by strikes in Calais. Around 2.8 million passengers travelled on the high-speed service in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 3 per cent on last year. The record numbers were despite disruption during ferry worker strikes in Calais last month over the sale of the MyFerryLink’s ferries to the rival DFDS Seaways. However, overall sales revenues for the first half of the year fell 2% due to the impact of the terrorist attacks in Paris during the first quarter and the closure of Eurotunnel following a lorry fire.

Protesting ferry workers temporarily blocked French road access to the undersea rail tunnel linking France to Britain on Tuesday, a Eurotunnel spokesman said. Employees of the Eurotunnel-owned MyFerryLink service - whose ferries the company plans to sell - brought traffic in the tunnel to a standstill for a whole day last month, also disrupting seabound travel from the port of Calais, in protest at the sale. Syndicat Maritime Nord union spokesman Eric Vercoutre said the blockade of the A16 road into the tunnel was now at an end, but that another one was planned for this afternoon. A spokesman for France's road traffic authority said short stoppages were likely to take place throughout the day.

Striking ferry workers blocking access to Calais port in northern France agreed on Wednesday to let some boats through, partly lifting a blockade in its third day. Workers at ferry service MyFerryLink are trying to prevent job cuts after their company was sold to a Danish company earlier this month. They agreed to let some boats go after their representatives were invited to meet with Transport Ministry officials on Thursday morning, following a threat to disrupt traffic through the Channel Tunnel for 48 hours. "We've accepted to lift the blockade of the port from 20:00 (1800 GMT) to let P&0 boats through one by one," union official Eric Vercoutre told journalists.

Ferry workers will disrupt traffic through the sub-sea Channel tunnel between France and Britain for 48 hours from midday on Thursday, a union official said. "We will pursue our actions to make the French government budge," said union official Eric Vercoutre, speaking at the French Calais port town where the tunnel entrance is located. "From midday Thursday we will carry out actions disrupting the tunnel," he said, adding that action should last 48 hours. Workers at ferry service MyFerryLink are trying to prevent job cuts after their company was sold to a Danish firm earlier this month. MyFerryLink was previously owned by Eurotunnel, the company that operates the undersea cross-Channel rail link. Reporting by Matthias Blamont

The Channel Tunnel closed again on Tuesday due to protesting MyFerryLink workers, its operator Eurotunnel and French traffic supervision body Bison Fute said. The entrance to the tunnel was blocked by angry workers who set fire to tyres thrown on the tracks, a Reuters witness said. Employees at MyFerryLink, the ferry service recently sold by Eurotunnel maintained their blockade of the northern French port of Calais for a second day on Tuesday after a court rejected their bid to extend a charter contract with Eurotunnel. The MyFerryLink workers argue the court decision jeopardises hundreds of jobs at their company. Reporting by Matthias Blamont

Britons faced chaos in Calais last night after striking French sailors blocked the port for the second time in a week. Ferry services between Dover and Calais were cancelled again on Tuesday as MyFerryLink workers blockaded the French port. Strike action by around 400 workers last week led to major traffic jams of lorries, prompting migrants around the port to try to stow away on trucks bound for Britain. Unlike last week’s industrial action, which saw Eurostar and Eurotunnel also forced to cancel services, only ferry crossings are currently affected. "Right now the action is concentrated on the port," said Eric Vercoutre, head of the main maritime union organizing the industrial action, without ruling out wider action in the days ahead.

Employees of a ferry service recently sold by Eurotunnel renewed a blockade of the northern French port of Calais on Monday after a court rejected their bid to extend the service's charter contract with Eurotunnel. Access to the boats on the docks was not possible in the afternoon, said union and port sources. Strike action by around 400 workers last week led to major traffic jams of lorries, prompting migrants around the port to try and stowaway on trucks bound for Britain. Eurotunnel, the operator of the undersea rail link between England and France, in June agreed to sell its Calais-to-Dover ferry business to Denmark's DFDS to end a lengthy battle with British competition authorities.

Traffic through the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France has resumed, a spokesman for operator Eurotunnel said on Wednesday. "Traffic is totally normal in both directions since last night at 1830 (French time)," he said. Traffic was suspended on Tuesday after striking ferry workers accessed the terminal on the French side and set fire to tires to protest against the restructuring of Eurotunnel's maritime business MyFerryLink.   Shipping had been halted early on Tuesday and both Eurotunnel and Eurostar later suspended their services because of the disruption, creating kilometres-long tailbacks. Television images had shown crowds of migrants trying to board waiting lorries. Others were held back by riot police. Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt

A strike by French ferry workers is causing travel chaos in the south of England and Eurostar services from London are experiencing long delays. Calais strike is over - but motorists still face lengthy delays. Sailings have been resumed following the protests and the Channel Tunnel has reopened after protesting French ferry workers got on to the tracks. All services to and from the UK Port of Dover have been affected by the strike. Workers at MyFerryLink have voted in favour of ending the industrial action and return to work after blockading the Port of Calais, as well as having Eurotunnel services suspended. Traffic jams are mounting on motorway stretches near Dover as lorries destined for Calais wait until service resumes.

Traffic was halted through the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France on Tuesday after striking French ferry workers set fire to tires, while Britain's Foreign Office warned of migrants trying to get into vehicles queuing to enter the tunnel. British television showed large crowds of migrants trying to board waiting lorries, while others were held back by riot police. Around 400 workers blockaded the port of Calais to protest restructuring at its MyFerryLink division, the Syndicat Maritime Nord union said. Shipping was halted early in the day, the Calais port authority said. Both Eurotunnel and Eurostar later suspended their services because of the disruption.

Striking French ferry workers blockaded the port of Calais on Tuesday morning, disrupting maritime traffic and Eurotunnel's undersea rail link with Britain in protest at restructuring at its MyFerryLink division, port officials said. Shipping halted early in the day, the Calais port authority said. Eurotunnel said the industrial action had reduced its shuttle train services which transport passengers and heavy trucks between Calais and Folkestone. "Traffic is disrupted but there are still trains running," a Eurotunnel spokesman said. About 400 workers were on strike, the Syndicat Maritime Nord union said. The union opposes plans by Eurotunnel to sell two of MyFerryLink's three passenger vessels to Denmark's DFDS  and convert the third to freight, cutting jobs.

Eurotunnel reluctantly sold to its subsidiary, the Calais-to-Dover ferry business, MyFerryLink the Danish DFDS, the competitor of the Channel Tunnel reports Le Monde. The company is a forced seller of the service because of antitrust action. It said it had wanted to sell the business to a workers' cooperative, SCOP SeaFrance, rather than to DFDS. "The group, regretting that SeaFrance SCOP did not have the necessary support to make a takeover offer, ads engaging accept the tender submitted by DFDS for leasing ships Berlioz and Rodin," the group said in a statement. On January 9, the British appellate court for Competition (Competition Appeal Tribunal) upheld the position of the authority of the British competition (competition and markets authority…

Danish ferry and transportation firm DFDS is on the takeover trail, its chief executive said, after reporting its highest first-quarter operating profit on record and turning around its loss-making English Channel route. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) more than doubled to 228 million Danish crowns ($34 million) from a year ago led by the shipping division, the firm said, also raising its full-year forecast. "We are placing bids on other companies on a regular basis," Chief Executive Niels Smedegaard told Reuters. Last year it bought British logistic firms Stef Transport and Quayside, both minor players in a fragmented industry. DFDS operates around 50 freight and passenger ships mainly on routes in Northern Europe.

Ferries owned by Groupe Eurotunnel and run under the MyFerryLink brand can continue to run between Britain and France, after a British court upheld an appeal from a workers' collective which runs run the ferries. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been examining Eurotunnel's move into the ferry market since late 2012, and a tribunal earlier this year ruled that Eurotunnel should cease its MyFerryLink operations. But by a two to one majority decision, the Court of Appeal on Friday upheld the appeal by the Société Coopérative de Production de SeaFrance, the workers' collective involved in running the ferries. The CMA will now consider whether to launch an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Groupe Eurotunnel, which runs the undersea rail link between Britain and France, is putting its ferry service between the two countries up for sale after a ban on it operating the route was upheld by Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). CAT's ruling supported a ban brought in by Britain's antitrust regulator and comes after a long-running probe by the country's competition authorities into Eurotunnel's move into the ferry market. Under the ruling announced on Friday, Eurotunnel now has six months to cease its MyFerryLink operations between France and Britain, with the company saying it would seek a buyer for the business, which it said was run as an independent company.

A record number of freight vehicles departed on services through the Port of Dover yesterday, reaching numbers not seen since before the recession. The port said 5,337 freight vehicles departed for Calais and Dunkirk from Europe’s busiest ferry port, beating the previous record of 5,322 set in 2008. It was also the third busiest day ever for total numbers, with 10,134 freight vehicles handled. The busiest day was in 2008 when the port handled 10,584 freight vehicles following the Eurotunnel fire in September of that year.