The announcement in early June that the Eurotunnel Group had agreed to charter MyFerryLink’s Rodin and Berlioz to DFDS Seaways, including the option to buy, appeared to be a satisfying outcome to the three year saga of MyFerryLink’s (MFL) existence. Effectively a “let to buy” agreement was established where the ships remain French flagged and crewed for a minimum of two years before the sale to DFDS is completed. The original terms of Eurotunnel’s purchase of the three ships included not being able to sell them outright for 5 years. Once the sale was announced, along with a company closure date of 1st July, MFL customers with a booking after this date were offered a free transfer to another cross- Channel operator, a full refund, or an upgrade to Eurotunnel’s Shuttle for an extra £30. The irony of the latter, an upgrade to travel through a hole in the ground, was clearly lost on some! Naturally the Seafrance SCOP, which was subsequently placed in to Judicial Administration on 11th June by the Commercial Court in Boulogne-sur-Mer, deemed the agreement between Eurotunnel and DFDS as unacceptable. The Ro-Ro vessel Nord Pas De Calais would somehow be retained by Eurotunnel for the shipment of hazardous goods, subject to the Competition Authorities, thus safeguarding the jobs of 100-130 personnel if the plan went ahead. The Administrators then had to work with DFDS to define the conditions for the recruitment of staff. The Eurotunnel Group was quick to confirm that the only contractual relationships existing between MyFerryLink and the SCOP SeaFrance were the operating contracts which expired at midnight on 1st July. MFL operations employed 1,370 crew on 3 ferries and 160 shore based staff. To add to the fraught situation in Calais, Didier Cappelle, the chairman of the supervisory board SeaFrance SCOP, died over night 8th- 9th June following a heart attack. The binding agreement between Eurotunnel and DFDS had been announced on the night of 7th June. On 22nd June DFDS formally announced that Eurotunnel had accepted their offer for the two ferries. From 2nd July 2015, DFDS would therefore enter into long term bareboat charter agreements for the two ships. In addition, a put option agreement has been entered into that provides Eurotunnel with the right to require DFDS to purchase the ships. The put option agreement expires at the latest in mid-2017. Eurotunnel can exercise the put option on terms agreed between the parties, including a price reduction equal to any charter payments made before an exercise of the put option. In addition, the administrators of the SCOP-SeaFrance have launched a sales process of all or parts of the SCOPSeaFrance and DFDS will constructively participate in this process. Neither the bareboat charter agreements, nor the put option agreement, entail changes to DFDS’ previously announced outlook for earnings in 2015.

Historically, to make matters far worse for themselves, the French Seamen and Dockers go on strike when a service or company is already in trouble and they have been pretty much responsible for the demise of Sealink SNAT’s operations at Dieppe, Seafrance and SNCM as more recent examples with MyFerryLink next on their list as far as the employees are concerned at least. Industrial action closed the Port of Calais from 0350 on the morning of 23rd June with only DFDS services to Dunkerque being unaffected. The Calais Seaways was also switched to this line leaving the less suitable Malo Seaways redundant in Dover. Operation Stack recommenced on the M20 and the motorway into Calais was again brought to a halt. The root cause was seen as a result of the decision by Eurotunnel to charter and then sell two of their ships to DFDS at short notice and with neither party appearing to engage constructively with the French sea-going and shore staff at MyFerryLink. As the largest operator, P&O took the brunt of the disruption. On 29th June all MFL services were suspended pending the outcome of a hearing at the Commercial Court in Boulogne-sur-Mer as to the legality of the Eurotunnel/DFDS deal. The court found in favour of the perfectly legal arrangement so, hey presto, the Port of Calais was closed yet again and MFL crews occupied both the Rodin and the Berlioz. Remarkably the Nord Pas De Calais was quickly taken to the safety of Dunkerque for lay up as she was in Dover when the protests resumed in Calais.

As P&O Ferries’ CEO Helen Deeble rightly said on 30th June, the buck stops with the French Government. They have shown that they can move swiftly to stop any disruption at the tunnel, but they have effectively abandoned any attempt to maintain security at the port of Calais, which makes nonsense of European co-operation. The British Government was also asked to stand up to ensure that everyone can get to mainland Europe safely and securely. Every day that the disruption lasts costs UK Plc millions of pounds. P&O Ferries alone employs thousands of people on both sides of the Channel and this damaging and dangerous industrial action is now putting those jobs at risk. That same day P&O Ferries launched a pro-active effort to get traffic across the Straits by operating loaded one-way crossings from Dover to Boulogne, starting with the Pride of Burgundy. Traffic could not be embarked at Boulogne as the mothballed ferry port lacked security staff, check in facilities etc. Freight, coach and caravan traffic was given priority on these services. After three days of protests the Port of Calais partially reopened on 1st July to P&O Ferries only (two berths only). The Rodin and Berlioz continued to block two berths and indications of sabotage to the two MFL ships were rife. The culprits were so-called crewmembers who had also daubed offensive slogans on the ship’s aft superstructures.

The reprehensible actions of the protesting MFL crews became increasingly looked upon as nothing more than criminal, with MES shutes deployed from the ships for no reason whatsoever only adding to the shame. P&O’s use of Boulogne appeared to influence the resumption of their Calais sailings on 3rd July, a day when even the head of Calais Port voiced his objections to the SCOP’s and Union’s actions and issued an empty threat to close the port unless DFDS are allowed back instead of being subject to an unlawful ban. An attempt by the courts was also made to force Eurotunnel to contact the directors of the volatile and bankrupt SCOP Seafrance within 48 hours with details of the charter to DFDS or face a €30,000 per day fine.

Following discussions with all stakeholders including the French Minister of Transport, on 25th June DFDS submitted an offer to the administrators of SCOP Seafrance for the acquisition of a part of SCOP Seafrance including 202 staff out of the 580 previously employed. This would have allowed DFDS to operate a 3rd vessel between Dover and Calais. DFDS has had no response to this offer and was surprised by the apparent unwillingness of the SCOP Seafrance administrators to engage in a dialogue with DFDS. On the evening of 2nd July DFDS was informed by the administrators that this offer was rejected. It would appear that the SCOP’s actions go far beyond saving jobs and is simply a vendetta against Eurotunnel and DFDS. The rejection of the offer does not affect the agreed bareboat charters between DFDS and the Eurotunnel Group. Around this time the situation became even more unbelievable when a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry was requested in order to raise issue over the unanswered questions surrounding the Eurotunnel deal.

Such a process could take six months, leading to the ships and employees potentially being in limbo until early 2016. A quite ridiculous scenario.