Craig

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates So the French state wades in to say they will back MFLs right to operate. I wonder if there might be a compromise agreememt with one vessel being pulled and retaining the other and the freighter? The restrictions on vessel use if the decision stands seems highly uncompetitive.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Where are the Straits ships at in terms of compliance. I do quite like the thought of DFDS chartering one of the MFL ships whilst updating their own tonnage

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates It'll go to the European Court i assume, so that will take a while. With France being pretty militant on a good day, the fact that their government is unpopular won't help keep the burning tyres off the roads! I'm not sure the Nord Pas region would do a Transmanche and take MFL over but I'd be surprised if some mechanism wasn't constructed to keep the SCOP going. If not, the concept of the SCOP takes a beating and that'll not go down well. Of course, it is a regional matter so it may not manage to be escalated to crisis proportions but never say never. It

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Funny, in the purest from the choice at Dover is go above the water or below the water. At one stage there was a period when the choice was pretty much P&O or Tunnel. Two monopolies and DFDS came along to offer a choice above the water and create a duopoly. They added competition but also capacity though I think the P&O fleet could have satisfied the demand on its own. MFL comes along and the duopoly is broken and this is seen as unfair. Stena buys capacity on some North Sea routes that DFDS run, I seem to remember but Eurotunnel buying it on MFL is bad

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Probably a lot more to play out here but if the ruling states that overcapacity is a problem and bans use of the ships on the route, surely it should also require those who raised the complaint to be banned from adding capacity for a period of time? I think this is going to end badly if the ruling does stand, with Eurotunnel ramping up shuttle services and going for further really aggressive pricing. Just switching the existing traffic on MFL services to the Tunnel would leave DFDS and P&O no better off. The paths in the tunnel exist to increase

Re: eurosewer I don't know. I imagine the shareholders are rather pleased to see revenues at MFL grow from 7m to 74m euros in a year and the group revenue as a 'hole' hit 1bn after a 12% rise ! Source Seems the decision to launch MFL is working. Less lorries through the tunnel so perhaps they are going to focus on the tourist traffic ?

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Niels Smedegaard, CEO DFDS "There were 11 conditions that the British Competition Commission had to deal with before. Now there's just one, and we are confident that the British Competition Commission will do a good job in this case. Fortunately, developments in the English Channel are going the right way and we're conquering market shares." Surely the last section undermines their initial argument that this would force DFDS out ?

Re: New captain on the Bretgane He was certainly around from at least 1999 as I recall the name.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Indeed. Often figures can be presented to support or to rubbish an argument when the context is not presented.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Thanks for that MJM. Helpful to see such figures presented in context.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates The figures from Sweden do not account for whatever marketing efforts that they may have made. A new route would expect to receive more of a push, potentially detracting from an existing route. Both freight and passenger traffic might have been distorted by promotions and offers. One might expect Calais to be more attractive to passengers ahead of Christmas with the traditional stocking up that takes place and the Calais daytrip being the most well know route in the minds of the public.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Interesting that the CC feel it is likely that DFDS/LD are likely to pull out of Dov-Cal and have put that in their statement! Surely the operator is going to object strongly to this speculation to protect their future bookings..........? Wonder if some deal will be done for a smaller MFL that Eurotunnel could claim as a backup option in case of tunnel closure that ticks over by taking haz loads etc ? NPdC and one of the twins ?

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Or just quietly getting on with it is another way, especially if there is an accusation that you are being uncompetitive. At least they can clearly show that their proportion of the traffic is, at present, not exactly a threat.

Re: My Ferry Link - Updates Perhaps they have costed it out, realised that at this point they have no need to economically mirror the other operators and are therefore behaving in exactly the correct way ? Seafrance tried to copy P&O with high costs. Maybe they are playing it safe for now. They launched without much fanfare and perhaps it is more important to exorcise the ghosts of the past ?

Re: Advice On GCSE Options My experience was the opposite. My secondary school had no 6th form so I went to the FE College instead. 4 months down the line I transferred to a 6th form where my cousin was studying. I missed the structure of the school system compared to the college. Having said that, I looked at several 6th Forms prior to choosing college and found them too stifling, so I suppose it is really about finding what is right for you and doing the legwork. Career wise, everything sort of happened by accident. Took a year out before uni but hated every moment of my