by Graham Tutthill

A meeting is due to be held next week between management and union representatives at SeaFrance to try to resolve the company’s financial situation.

Chief executive Pierre Fa is reported on Lloyd's List to have warned that the ferry company risks having to file for bankruptcy if agreement can not be reached quickly on a rescue plan.

It was in February we reported that SeaFrance could cut up to 650 jobs, and reduce its cross-Channel fleet from seven to three ships, in an effort to address financial difficulties.

By May, a modified plan had been drawn up which reduced the number of redundancies to 550, and kept another ferry.

Negotiations have been taking place over a proposed change in the crewing and operating conditions of the freight ferry Nord-Pas de Calais, the extra ferry which would be kept in the fleet.

But it is understood that various deadlines have come and gone, and agreement has still not been reached. The latest deadline is the end of August. Mr Fa has called an extraordinary meeting with employee representatives on Monday to fix deadlines for action.

In a letter to staff, Mr Fa is said to have written: "In the absence of negotiated agreements rapidly on all the measures envisaged in the recovery plan, we will be inexorably constrained to file for bankruptcy."

SeaFrance is owned by the French national rail company SNCF. Bosses say they are unable to proceed with plans to recapitalise the company.

"Delaying the implementation of a new industrial project is to continue to deepen the deficit and endanger our prospects of recapitalisation in relation to the authorities in Brussels and deliberately choose to send us to the court of commerce," he said.

The union says most of the redundancies could be avoided if cost-cutting measures were adopted.

A statement issued by the company on Tuesday said: "A memo has been issued to SeaFrance staff stating the importance of the management and unions reaching an agreement on the recovery plan.

"SeaFrance is operating 15 return sailings per day and is experiencing a surge in late bookings, a trend which it expects to continue into the autumn."