Ferry lines - summer 2010

In a few months the landscape of the transmanche ferry evolved a few, even if the last upheavals are not any more current. The effect of the economic crisis as important and the operators fighted an economic war to collect customers in decrease. Some of them preferred to close lines whose are not very profitable whereas others tried to resist.

All the companies on the English Channel recorded a fall of the number of passengers. Six companies are sharing all the trafic of the transmanche ferry-ports. First, their distribution are geographic: Brittany Ferries is located on the western English Channel whereas LD Lines ensures the connections at the beginning of the east English Channel. The Strait remains a zone of strong turbulence and strong competition between companies, P&O, Norfolk Line and Sea France hold the market.

They are very strongly competed by the relaunch of the Channel tunnel activity which, with great promotional campaigns, stars again its transmanche traffic passengers and freight. On the English Channel, three regular lines disappeared: the line between Cherbourg and Portsmouth ensured by Celtic Links, the two others between Boulogne and Dover and Cherbourg and Rosslare, developped by LD Lines company and today abandoned.

Number of ships have been reallocated on others connections or, quite simply disarmed as "Barfleur," until the end of the economic crisis. In fact, lines and operators have no change, Brittany Ferries keeps its leader position of the transmanche, whereas P&O is maintained on the Strait but plans to lay off and that LD Lines is folded up gradually by closing recent connections.