MyFerryLink wins right to fight ban

THE COURT of Appeal has ruled that cross-Channel ferry service MyFerryLink can challenge a ban imposed by the UK monopoly watchdog.

Workers’ co-operative SCOP, which operates the service on behalf of Eurotunnel, expects to head back to the courts next month, as it continues to try to overrule a ban handed out from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

In January, The Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld a CMA decision that the Calais-to-Dover service gave Eurotunnel a monopoly on the route, and ordered that the cross-channel ferry service should be sold or should cease operating within six months.

At the time, a spokesman from Groupe Eurotunnel said it would seek a buyer for MyFerryLink, which has 600 employees.

MyFerryLink has been running since 2012 after Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel bought three ferries from collapsed ferry company SeaFrance and has been operating up to 24 daily crossings on the Dover-Calais route. In June 2014, the CMA said this meant it had more than half the market share, when its rail link was taken into consideration.

In a statement, MyFerryLink said the decision to grant the appeal, “reflects the strength of our arguments”, which centre on whether the purchase of the operator’s three vessels constitutes a merger or an acquisition.

The hearing is likely to take place at the Court of Appeal before March 13, MyFerryLink said. It is not known whether the case will affect the timetable for selling or winding up the business.

The SCOP is also examining options to buy MyFerryLink outright.

Previous articles:
MyFerryLink vows to fight UK ban
MyFerryLink ban upheld by UK
MyFerryLink faces new legal threat
MyFerryLink wins Channel court case
MyFerryLink faces Dover ban

Photo: Roel Hemkes