HOVERSPEED’S Seacat services from Dover could be closed for the winter - an announcement which has resulted in uncertainty for hundreds of people who work on board the craft and at the terminal.

James Sherwood, chairman of Hoverspeed’s parent company Sea Containers, said the company wanted to run the Dover-Calais service on a seasonal basis in the future in order to cut spiralling operating costs.

This would be the same service as Hoverspeed operates on the Newhaven-Dieppe route which ends on September 29 and starts again on March 27.

Mr Sherwood made the announcement after revealing that the company recorded a loss of one million dollars in the first six months of the year.

He said: “Consultation with employees on this change in operations will start shortly and until that process is complete no date can be set for the change. Restructuring costs will be included in the 40 million dollars of non-recurring charges.”

Hoverspeed operates a fleet of three Seacat catamarans between Dover and Calais, crossing in just under one hour with up to 15 daily departures during the peak season.

Sea Containers reported net earnings for the second quarter of the year of 9.3 million dollars, on revenue of 420 million dollars, compared with net earnings of 16 million dollars on revenue of 337 million dollars for the same period last year.

But for the first six months of the year, the company recorded a loss of 1 million dollars on revenue of 771 million dollars, compared with a profit of 10 million dollars on revenue of 556 million dollars from January to June 2002.

This swing from a 10 million dollar profit to a one million dollar loss was despite an increase in revenue of 215 million dollars.