SNCF may bail out SeaFrance

STATE rail firm the SNCF is considering putting €70 million into its beleaguered subsidiary SeaFrance to keep it afloat.

SeaFrance, a which operates Dover to Calais ferries, is close to bankruptcy and losing about €100,000 a day. It has 1,500 employees and is the largest private employer in Calais.

According to a plan de redressement (plan to avoid liquidation) – being put forward by bosses, it needs to shed 543 jobs before 2010, but negotiations with unions have proved difficult.

Under a deal with the parent company it is being proposed that 411 employees could move to the SNCF and capital would be injected into the firm.

The negotiations are delicate as it is possible Brussels could see the SNCF’s involvement as a form of illegal state aid.

Photo:SeaFrance