According to reports, SeaFrance, one of Europe’s leading ferry operators, has been put up for sale. Rumours of the sale surfaced after an advert was spotted in a French business newspaper, Les Echos, towards the end of last month. The advert read: “Within the framework of the disposal of its shareholdings in SeaFrance, a tender process has been launched, piloted by Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, to find a potential buyer for the cross-Channel ferry operator..”

The advertisement was taken out by SNCF, the French state railway operator currently in control of SeaFrance. Although the rumours surrounding SeaFrance are unlikely to inspire confidence among staff and passengers, news of a possible sale ought not to have come as a surprise for most.

SNCF has had to invest £100 million in SeaFrance’s Dover to Calais operations in order to compete with rival operators. As well as this, SeaFrance is currently in administration and has recently announced a host of cost-cutting initiatives. As a new working agreement came into force on Tuesday, plans to axe 700 jobs continue to hang over SeaFrance. One union official was quoted as saying: “an advertisement in a newspaper gives the impression that [SNCF] wants to wash its hands of the company as soon possible.”

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