A French court may decide the future of the cross-Channel ferry company SeaFrance after bosses applied for judicial protection.

It followed the five-day strike by French union members over Easter which is reported to have cost the company more than £1 million.

Chairman Pierre Fa is reported to have told the French media that the company "is on the eve of death" and has plut the blame firmly on "the irresponsible attitude of some union representatives" who, he said, had ruined the efforts made by management and staff to save the company.

The application filed by the French government last month to the European Commission seeking permission for a 100 million Euro (£88 million) recapitalisation of SeaFrance has also been suspended, on the basis that the financial and commercial conditions on which it was based no longer apply.

It is expected that the maximum amount of financial support from the state-owned parent company SNCF will be reached next month.

A previous application to the courts for protection was withdrawn in December when the French union CFDT finally agreed to sign up to the recovery plan.
But this time, M Fa says there will be no going back.

Once in administration, the directors would lose control of the business, and the court will decide whether it can be saved from liquidation.

One solution may be to mortgage one of the ferries, raising around 70 million Euro (£61 million) of capital.