Sea France Routes, History and Services
Sea France has the most modern fleet on the Cross Channel Dover Calais ferry route offering up to 15 sailings daily in each direction. Sea France ships offer stylish comfort, mouth watering cuisine and attentive service, and all in a non-smoking environment.
The on board Boutique offers great shopping with plenty of savings to be had on wine, spirits, beer, perfume and gifts. From the moment you step on board their state of the art super ferries, the Sea France Rodin or the SeaFrance Berlioz, with so many onboard luxuries to enjoy, you'll wish you could stay on board longer! |
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Sea France History
Sea France began operations between Dover and Calais in 1996 after the termination of a pooling agreement with Sealink (by then known as Stena Sealink Line) in 1995. The service initially began with the former Sealink vessels Fiesta and Côte d'Azur which became Sea France Cézanne and Sea France Renoir respectively after extensive refurbishments to create a distinctive French atmosphere on board. Former Sealink train ferry Nord Pas-de-Calais became the Sea France Nord Pas-de-Calais and operated as a freight only ferry though Sea France did market the ship to passengers as a quiet ship. The three vessels were later joined by the former Stena Londoner which became the Sea France Monet. Sea France quickly became the second busiest operator on the Dover - Calais route after P&O European Ferries and ahead of their former partners now known as Stena Line. In 1997 the Sea France Manet entered service after a five year charter to Stena Line for the Newhaven-Dieppe service, the ship essentially replaced the Monet which was later sold after being damaged in Calais. Sea France took delivery of the Sea France Rodin in 2001, their first new ship and the fastest Dover-Calais ferry. She was joined in 2005 by the Sea France Berlioz, a sister ship built at a different yard.
Sea France was one of five companies invited to tender for the operation of Transmanche Ferries service between Dieppe and Newhaven. SNCF and later SNAT operated the route until 1992 when they withdrew after poor performance due to almost constant strike action. The route later passed to Sealink Stena Line (later renamed Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line). The route became part of P&O Stena Line with the merger of the company's Eastern Channel services and they operated the route until 1998 after which Hoverspeed operated a fast-ferry service on the route until 2004. Because the French local government did not want the route to be lost, they started a subsidized line called Transmanche Ferries in April 2001. After five years of service, and the arrival of two new-build ships the government had to tender the line in a concession to comply with EU regulations. The contract to operate the service was awarded to LD Lines on 21 December 2006.
In 2008 Sea France introduced the Sea France Molière and withdrew the Sea France Manet and plans to withdraw the Sea France Renoir.
The current fleet is as follows.
Sea France Passenger Ferries
- SeaFrance Rodin (built 2001)
- Sea France Berlioz (built 2005). A sister ship of Sea France Rodin. Unlike the Rodin, which was built in Finland, the Berlioz was built in France, by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire.
- Sea France Molière (built 2002), formerly Superfast X and Jean Nicoli, purchased by Sea France in 2007 and refitted for the Dover-Calais route in Dunkerque at the cost of €15 million. The vessel has previously operated on longer crossings in the North and Baltic Sea routes. Entered service with Sea France in mid-August 2008 in freight only mode and full passenger service on 1 October 2008.
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