Eurotunnel confirmed yesterday it has set up a separate company to buy three of the four ships operated by the collapsed cross-Channel ferry operator SeaFrance,
On announcing a 16% increase in Eurotunnel revenues to €844.8m in 2011, the company’s executive chairman Jacques Gounon said it was planning to lease the ferries, expected to cost of €100m to €150m each, to a third-party operator.
The move could provide a lifeline for SeaFrance’s 880 staff, as Gounon has previously indicated he would be willing to rent the ferries to a worker’s co-operative which had originally planned a buy-out of SeaFrance.
SeaFrance ceased operating in December due to financial difficulties, and a French court ordered the company to be wound up on January 9 after none of the offers received for the company, including one from Denmark’s DFDS and another from the worker’s co-operative, were considered high enough.
Gounon revealed Eurotunnel had set up a separate company with a view to buying three ferries, but P&O Ferries said it would oppose any move by the train operator to launch sea crossings on competition grounds. Eurotunnel already accounts for 40% of all cross-Channel traffic and P&O Ferries handles 30%.
Eurotunnel saw a 10% increase in passengers on its cross-Channel shuttle service last year and a 2% rise in passenger numbers on its Eurostar train service. In total, 19m people and close to 17.7m tonnes of freight passed through the tunnel, but Eurotunnel said there was a potential to grow rail freight further following a 63% rise in revenue to €157.8m.
Gounon said: "In a difficult economic context, Groupe Eurotunnel has had a very good year. The group is well prepared to seize the opportunities which arise during 2012."
By Linsey McNeill
