DFDS looks to axe Portsmouth-Le Havre route
DFDS Seaways is looking to axe its Portsmouth-Le Havre route due to it being ‘economically unsustainable’.
The ferry operator announced it is entering a period of consultation on the viability of the service following a meeting with unions.
DFDS Seaways France took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre service in 2012 as part of its joint-venture with LD Lines.
But both LD Lines and DFDS Seaways France have consistently recorded heavy financial losses on the service since 2005.
DFDS said it has worked hard to cut costs on the route to make it more competitive, including replacing the Norman Voyager ship with a smaller vessel, whose capacity is more in line with the size of the market, as well as sales and marketing initiatives.
But it added that unfortunately, the service remained economically unsustainable.
Passenger and freight customers currently booked onto the service will not be affected by this process, and all bookings that have been made will be honoured.
DFDS said if the service does close, the Seven Sisters ship and its crew, which currently operate the route on charter from the Seine Maritime Conseil General 76 as an annexe service, would return to the ship’s owner.
In the UK, DFDS operates passenger ferry services on routes from Dover to Calais, Dover to Dunkirk, Harwich to Esbjerg, Newcastle to Amsterdam, Newhaven to Dieppe and Portsmouth to Le Havre.
Diane
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