The SCOP, the workers’ cooperative that runs stricken MyFerryLink, could bid to buy the service if it can find financial backers, according to the ferry company’s boss.

More than 600 workers have been left in limbo after a tribunal rejected an appeal by owners Eurotunnel, meaning it will be forced to either close or sell the Dover to Calais operator within six months.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal threw out the case against a ban handed out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which said the service should be closed because Eurotunnel’s ownership gave it too large a share of the cross-Channel market.

Shortly after the case was dismissed on January 9, MyFerryLink managing director Robin Wilkins indicated that the SCOP, which employs all the operator’s staff, is exploring the possibility of launching another bid to save the company at the Court of Appeal.

In an exclusive interview, he also gave a strong indication that his employers would be open to making a bid for the service.

He said: “If the SCOP could find access to funding, then it has proved it can manage the company and we have had a very reliable service.

“If the SCOP could find the finance necessary then certainly they would be able to manage the business.”

The argument for a bid for the SCOP appeared to be supported by Eurotunnel, although it would not speak on specifics.

Spokesman John Keefe said: "The SCOP have proven themselves to be a very efficient operator."

MyFerryLink has been dogged by controversy since it was launched by Eurotunnel in August 2012.

The company was set up using three ferries bought by the Channel Tunnel operator from the liquidators of SeaFrance, which went bust after France’s state-owned railway company SNCF withdrew its funding.

Rival operators P&O Ferries and DFDS complained to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), saying Eurotunnel had gained too much control of the cross-Channel market.

The OFT referred the matter to the CMA, then known as the Competition Commission, which banned the service.

A back-and-forth legal battle ensued, culminating this month in the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s rejection of Eurotunnel’s case against its ban.

Carsten Jensen, senior vice president and head of DFDS Seaways in the UK, said: “The cross-Channel ferry market will now change from an unsustainable situation to one with fair competition between equal ferry operators.

"We are not afraid of competition – we are creators of competition ourselves – but it has to be on equal terms.

“The unsustainability of the market place we have faced over the past few years has been due to over-capacity. We think the right decision has been reached.”

P&O Ferries spokesman Brian Rees said: “We have always called for a level playing field and any subsidy of a competitor distorts the market.

“We have no problem with MyFerryLink being sold to a new buyer as long as there are no subsidies involved.

“However, the situation is still unclear. Eurotunnel has announced that it is seeking a buyer for MyFerryLink but the SCOP SeaFrance has given notice it intends to appeal.

“So we now await the outcome of that process.”

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