The final ruling of the UK Competition Commission concerning Eurotunnel’s acquisition of certain assets from the former SeaFrance was issued today, said in the press release. The ruling requires Eurotunnel to cease ferry operations at the Port of Dover and divest ferry assets within a period of 6 months. DFDS’ profit expectations for the remaining year are therefore unchanged.

A Dover-Calais ferry route which was suspended in November, when SeaFrance collapsed, is due to be re-opened. French shipping group Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LD) has teamed up with Denmark's DFDS to operate the route, which was originally run by SeaFrance. SeaFrance stopped operating the Dover to Calais route in November. Its rival P&O Ferries, which also which also operates a route between Dover and Calais, complained to the European Commission that this state-backing allowed it to operate unfairly, and cut prices to uncompetitive levels. The joint venture between LD and DFDS will not be receiving a subsidy. The companies had bid to buy SeaFrance but their offer was deemed too low. The joint venture will create 300 new jobs at sea and ashore in France, employing many ex-SeaFrance staff, and will start five services a day in each direction from February 17. news.sky.com/home...

Port of Dover was forced to close between 10.30am and 1.20pm on Tuesday because of high seas.

Dover, the U.K.’s biggest gateway for cars and trucks, is seeking state backing for a takeover or share sale that would permit it to raise cash and reverse a loss of freight traffic to the Channel Tunnel undersea rail route, Bloomberg reports. The Port of Dover needs 400 million pounds ($644 million) to fund a capacity “step change” that would add four ferry berths on top of the current nine to tap a projected jump in demand and fend off “fierce” competition from Groupe Eurotunnel SA, Chief Executive Officer Bob Goldfield said in an interview. Read more at www.bloomberg.com...

Ferry operators on the Dover Strait are threatening to make a complaint to the UK government after the port owner announced a hike in prices for 2011. Last year, Dover Harbour Board (DHB) announced an increase in its harbour dues for 2011 of 4.8%, a move which surprised the ferry operators that use the port. Source: ifw-net.com, www.ifw-net.com/f...

Dover’s Conservative MP, Charlie Elphicke, has launched a campaign to transfer ownership of the Channel port to a company run by local townspeople – a move that has been called “unrealistic and undeliverable” by Dover Harbour Board (DHB). Read more at ifw-net.com, www.ifw-net.com/f...