DFDS says Channel ferry link at risk

FERRY users in Normandy, Brittany and the Atlantic coast could be badly affected as DFDS Seaways reveals that it is looking at closing its Portsmouth-Le Havre service.

The company, which took over the route in 2012 in a joint venture with LD Lines, says that it and LD Lines have “recorded heavy financial losses on this service since 2005”.

It says that it has started a closure consultation on the viability of the route as it has “remained economically unsustainable”.

The company revealed its proposals to union representatives in France as the vessel used on the route, the Seven Sisters, is chartered from Seine-Maritime Conseil Général.

DFDS said that it had tried to make the route more competitive with sales and marketing initiatives and by replacing the Norman Voyager with the smaller Seven Sisters to be more in line with the size of the market.

Passenger and freight customers currently booked will not be affected, and all bookings that have been made will be honoured.