SeaFrance looks to shed one third of its workforce

French Dover Straits ferry operator is to axe 650 jobs, more than one third of its total workforce, in a drastic move to safeguard its future in the face of what it describes as ‘grave economic and financial difficulties.

As part of its restructuring, SeaFrance is to layup two of its vessels, the 1987-built freight-only vessel SeaFrance Nord Pas-De-Calais, and the 1980-built ro-pax SeaFrance Cezanne, which has been operating as a freight-only vessel of late. This will leave just three passenger ferries on the busy Dover-Calais run: the new SeaFrance Moliere (1,200 passengers and 480 cars, or 110 lorries) and the 1,900 passenger capacity, 700 car or 120 lorry capacity sisters SeaFrance Berlioz and SeaFrance Rodin. Sphere: Related Content