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Portsmouth-Le Havre set to shut

[ September 15, 2014   //   ]

DFDS Seaways says it plans to shut its twice-daily Portsmouth to Le Havre freight and passenger ro ro service, following a meeting with union representatives in France. DFDS Seaways France took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre service in 2012 as part of its joint venture with LD Lines but both companies have consistently recorded heavy financial losses on this service since 2005.
DFDS said it had cut costs on the route to make it more competitive, including replacing the Norman Voyager ship with a smaller vessel, as well as a series of sales and marketing initiatives to grow the potential customer base, but to no avail.
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.
Should the Portsmouth-Le Havre service close, the Seven Sisters ship and its crew would return to the ships owner.
DFDS Seaways will continue to operate from Dover to Calais, Dover to Dunkirk, Newcastle to Amsterdam and, through Transmanche Ferries, from Newhaven to Dieppe. The , Harwich to Esbjerg service is also due to close at the end of September.

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