Booked with My Ferry Link - some news

ValDa

Just in case anyone has booked a crossing with MyFerryLink, the following (lifted from another forum) mght be interesting.  It suggests that there are no interested buyers, and that their operation may be closed unless an appeal is successful:

 

Cross-channel ferry operators P&O Ferries and DFDS have expressed little interest in acquiring Dover-Calais rival MyFerryLink, which parent company Eurotunnel has decided to put up for sale following last week’s decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal
(CAT).

Last Friday’s CAT decision upheld an earlier judgement by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) banning MyFerryLink from operating on the Dover strait under Eurotunnel’s ownership, ruling it breached fair competition rules.
The CMA’s order stops MyFerryLink from running services out of Dover while it is owned by the Channel Tunnel operator but does not prevent a suitable purchaser from doing so.

A spokesman for P&O Ferries told Lloyd's Loading List.com: “We are not yet ready to say whether or not we would be interested in acquiring the (MyFerryLink) business or one of the ships, should they become available. The workers co-operative (running
its services) has given notice that it intends to appeal last Friday’s decision and we await the outcome of that process," 

“In any case, any move to acquire MyFerryLink's assets would be subject to approval `by the CMA and is likely to be influenced by existing market-share considerations,” he added.

P&O Ferries has consistently claimed that MyFerryLink's viability has depended on subsidies from Eurotunnel. “We have always called for a level playing field and any subsidy of a competitor distorts the market, so this (proposed sale) is the right decision,”
the spokesman added. “We have no problem with MyFerryLink being sold to a new buyer as long as there are no subsidies involved.”

As for possible interest from DFDS, a spokesman for the company appeared to rule this out: “For the moment, our tonnage plans (on the Dover-Calais route) are in a different direction.”

He said the CAT's judgement upholding the CMA's decision was “a very positive outcome for DFDS”, adding: “It has been too long a period of uncertainty for our employees and in terms