Sea France News

France on Wednesday said it was imperative that negotiations over a future trade relationship between Britain and the European Union included customs checks in the Irish Sea.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a divorce deal with the EU last October that leaves the United Kingdom's province of Northern Ireland inside the UK customs area but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there."There must be controls in the Irish Sea", France's junior minister for European…

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.

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…

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.

Britain's competition regulator has told Groupe Eurotunnel, the operator of the undersea rail link between Britain and France, it will have to stop operating its separate cross-channel ferry service in the next six months and find a buyer for the ships, confirming a decision it made in May. Eurotunnel immediately said it would appeal an "absurd" decision, which it said would mean higher prices for consumers and put 600 people out of work. Groupe Eurotunnel operator started to operate services on the Dover-Calais crossing in 2012 under the MyFerryLink brand when it acquired three ferries from the now-defunct SeaFrance service owned by French railways operator SNCF. "Eurotunnel will be given six months to stop running services from the date of an order to that effect.

The European Union Competition Appeal Tribunal has overturned a Competition Commission ruling that MyFerryLink, which operates leased ex-Sea France ferries from Groupe Eurotunnel, must stop running its services, reports Maritime London. However, the judgment was based on arguments of jurisdiction and not the substance of the competition arguments so the Competition Commission will now re-examine the case. Jacques Gounon, chairman and chief executive officer of Groupe Eurotunnel, stated: “This is a victory for the consumer.

Hefty fines, detention and possible arrest are looming for ship owners/operators who fail to meet new ship emissions requirements. In accordance with MARPOL (Marine Pollution) Annex VI regulations, new Emissions Control Area (ECA) regulations for sea areas within 200 nautical miles from the coasts and ports of the U.S. and Canada go into effect on August 1, 2011. Even with an exemption clause that extends the regulations enforcement date to Aug. 1, 2012, the time window is short for outfitting thousands of vessels.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected to supply the bridge navigation and communication systems for a new SeaFrance high-performance vehicle-passenger ferry, which is being built at Alstom’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France. The new ferry, to be christened SeaFrance Berlioz, in honor of the famous French composer, is scheduled to enter service in February 2005. The ship will be fitted with a multi-console Voyage Management System from Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit. System components will include a type-approved electronic chart display and information system, interswitched BridgeMaster E navigation radars…

A French ferry was badly holed in France's Channel harbor of Calais after being hurled onto the jetty by high winds, owners Sea-France said. No-one was injured on the ferry Monet which had sailed from the British port of Dover. Passengers and vehicles landed safely. Divers carried out emergency repairs and put in pumps to keep the ferry afloat. The company said it was not in danger of sinking but would remain in Calais for several weeks for repairs.

Aker Finnyards and SeaFrance have signed a contract worth more than $88.9 million for the construction of a new car-passenger ferry for the Dover-Calais route. Touted as the fastest and largest vessel to ever operate on that route, the 607 ft. (185 m) ferry is scheduled for a September 2001 delivery. Able to transport 1,900 passengers and 700 cars at speeds of up to 25 knots, the vessel will reportedly the fastest of its kind operating on its route; reducing crossing time to approximately one hour.

A safety survey found that three of the four worst performing ferries in Europe sail from British ports. The survey of 26 ferries by European motoring organizations gave the lowest rating to P&O European Ferries' "Pride of Rathlin," which sails from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland. P&O Portsmouth's "Pride of Hampshire," which connects Portsmouth and Cherbourg, and SeaFrance's "SeaFrance Monet," which sails from Dover to Calais, were also judged to have "poor" safety standards. The "Oglasa" ferry, which connects Piombino and Portoferraio in Italy and is operated by Toremar, a subsidiary of Italian state-owned Tirrenia di Navigazione, was the fourth boat to be given a "poor" rating by the survey.

A safety survey has found that three of the four worst performing ferries in Europe sail from British ports. The survey of 26 ferries by European motoring organizations gave the lowest rating to P&O European Ferries' "Pride of Rathlin", which sails from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland. P&O Portsmouth's "Pride of Hampshire", which connects Portsmouth and Cherbourg, and SeaFrance's "SeaFrance Monet", which sails from Dover to Calais, were also judged to have "poor" safety standards. The "Oglasa" ferry that connects Piombino and Portoferraio in Italy and is operated by Toremar, a subsidiary of Italian state-owned Tirrenia di Navigazione, was the fourth boat to be given a "poor" rating by the survey.

Nordic prowess in ferry technology, coupled with Irish business verve, is set to take the sector to a new highpoint as regards the concentration of wheeled freight capacity in a RoRo passenger vessel. Built in the cruise ferry mold, Irish Ferries' 50,000-gt Ulysses embodies 4,100 lane-meters of garaging for trucks on four decks. The vessel is an eloquent testament to the operator's robust traffic development, and its perception of new opportunities arising from unprecedented growth in the Irish economy, foreign trade and tourism. Although P&O North Sea Ferries' 60,600-gt Pride of Rotterdam, nearing completion at Fincantieri's Marghera yard…

The European Commission granted P&O and Stena Line a six-year exemption from competition rules to operate a cross-Channel ferry service for passengers and freight. "The Commission's recent investigation has not revealed any valid market changes which could justify forcing P&0 of Britain and Stena Line, a subsidiary of Sweden's Stena Line AB, to undo their alliance," it said. The new exemption period, which expires on March 7, 2007, will permit P&0 Stena Line to continue competing with Eurotunnel, Sea France, Hoverspeed and NorfolkLine, the Commission said. The new exemption replaces a three-year exemption that expired March 10. The old exemption, while granted in 1999, had been retroactive to 1998. - (Reuters)