SeaFrance in troubled waters?

FERRY company SeaFrance is refusing to comment on rumours it is in financial difficulty.

The leader of the local branch of the PCF (the French Communist Party), Bertrand Péricaud, sparked the rumours after he declared the company was facing imminent restructuring.

He quickly regretted what he had said, agreeing however that “the financial situation of the company is very worrying.”

CGT union official Jacques Brouyer said: “Staff are worried but we don’t know any more details.”

SeaFrance has remained quiet over the rumours, adding that it would say more after a meeting of the supervisory board, planned for December 18, but which a union source claims is likely to be put back until the beginning of January.

It follows the closure of ferry operator SpeedFerries after administrators failed to find a buyer.

Their only boat SpeedOne had been seized by the port authorities of Boulogne in November on the basis of debts to the port in relation to port dues and taxes.

Photo: SeaFrance