SeaFrance

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SeaFrance is a French ferry company that runs ships between Calais, France andDover, UK.

SeaFrance is the trading name of SNAT (Société Nouvelle d'Armement Transmanche) which is owned by SNCF.

The company employs a total of 1,700 staff, including 1,200 seagoing personnel and is the largest employer in the town of Calais.

1 History
2 Current operations
3 Current fleet
- 3.1 Passenger/freight ferries
- 3.2 Freight ferries
4 Future
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

SeaFrance began operations between Dover and Calais in 1996 after the termination of a pooling agreement with Sealink (by then known as Stena Sealink Line) in 1995. The service initially began with the former Sealink vessels Fiesta and Côte d'Azur which became SeaFrance Cezanne and SeaFrance Renoir respectively after extensive refurbishments to create a distinctive French atmosphere on board. Former Sealink train ferry Nord Pas-de-Calais became the SeaFrance Nord Pas-de-Calais and operated as a freight only ferry though SeaFrance did market the ship to passengers as a quiet ship. The three vessels were later joined by the former Stena Londoner which became the SeaFrance Monet. SeaFrance quickly became the 2nd busiest operator on the Dover - Calais route after P&O European Ferries and ahead of their former partners now known as Stena Line. In 1997 the SeaFrance Manet entered service after a 5 year charter to Stena Line for the Newhaven-Dieppe service, the ship essentially replaced the Monet which was later sold after being damaged in Calais. SeaFrance took delivery of the SeaFrance Rodin in 2001, their first new ship and the fastest Dover-Calais ferry. She was joined in 2005 by the SeaFrance Berlioz, a sister ship built at a different yard.

[edit] Current operations

SeaFrance currently uses its 6 ships to operate 23 round trips a day. In comparison the P&O Ferries Dover fleet, also of 6 ships, operates 30 round trips a day. Seafrance Berlioz, Seafrance Rodin andSeafrance Nord Pas-de-Calais sail five crossings from both ports each. Since the arrival of Seafrance Berlioz the three older ships (Seafrance Renoir, Seafrance Manet and Seafrance Cezanne) are used less frequently. Alternating only one out of three is used for the passenger service, the other two are used for freight service only (in 2006 Seafrance Renoir was used for the passenger service, in 2007 Seafrance Cezanne is used for this service). Additional, the two ships used for the freight service only sail a couple of sailings per day (two to three per ship from each port), for which the company could have done with just one of them. Due to employee pressure the company cannot sell on of it's vessels and use another for just the freight service.

SeaFrance has been criticised in journals such as European Ferry Scene (specifically in the summer 2006 issue) and on-line newsgroups for the differences between the older fleet (Cezanne, Renoir and Manet) and the new vessels (Rodin and Berlioz) including the standards of upkeep, food and crew.

In 2005 SeaFrance made a €9.27million loss.

SeaFrance was one of 5 companies invited to tender for the operation of Transmanche Ferries service between Dieppe and Newhaven. SNCF and later SNAT operated the route until 1992 when they withdrew after poor performance due to almost constant strike action. The route later passed to Sealink Stena Line (later renamed Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line). The route became part of P&O Stena Line with the merger of the companies Eastern Channel services and they operated the route until 1998 after which Hoverspeed operated a fast ferry service on the route until 2004. Because the French local government did not want the route to be lost, they started a subsidised line called Transmanche Ferries in April 2001. After 5 years of service, and the arrival of two newbuild ships the government had to tender the line in a concession to comply with EU regulations. The contract to operate the service was awarded to LD Lines on 21 December 2006.

[edit] Current fleet

The current fleet is as follows.

[edit] Passenger/freight ferries

SeaFrance Renoir (built 1981). Scheduled for decommissioning from the passenger fleet in 2009.
SeaFrance Cezanne (built 1980, converted 1990). It was formerly named the SeaLink Fiesta, but was renamed the SeaFrance Cezanne in 1996.
SeaFrance Rodin (built 2001)
SeaFrance Berlioz (built 2005). This ship is a virtual twin with the SeaFrance Rodin. Unlike the Rodin, which was built in Finland, the Berlioz was built in France, by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire.
SeaFrance Molière^[1] (built 2002), formerly Superfast X and Jean Nicoli, purchased by SeaFrance in 2007 and refitted for the Dover-Calais route in Dunkerque. The vessel has previously operated on longer crossings in the Baltic region. Renamed in March 2008, she is scheduled to enter service on the short cross channel route with SeaFrance in July 2008.

[edit] Freight ferries

SeaFrance Nord Pas-de-Calais (built 1987)
SeaFrance Manet (built 1984) (formerly a passenger ferry, from 2008 used for freight services)

[edit] Future

SeaFrance have purchased the Jean Nicoli from SNCM (former Superfast X) for an undisclosed price but it is believed to be around €110 million and will convert her at the cost of approximately €30 million from an over night ferry to a day ferry suitable for the Dover-Calais route. She is expected to enter service in mid 2008.

SeaFrance has plans te replace all older ships with two newbuilds. This shall make the fleet shrink from six to four ships and should make the company profitable again. No new ships have been ordered thisfar.