Two ferry operators on the Dover-Calais route have welcomed the Competition Commission’s decision to order My Ferry Link to cease operations within six months.

P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways had complained to the watchdogs about alleged unfair competition after Eurotunnel bought three vessels from the defunct SeaFrance and leased them to a co-operative of former SeaFrance workers to create a third operator My Ferry Link.

The Commission upheld their complaints by ordering My Ferry Link to abandon its service on the short sea route. Eurotunnel has appealed against the ruling, saying it would be to the detriment of the consumer and raise prices.

In a statement, P&O said: “The long term interest of freight and tourist customers is best served by cost efficient and innovative companies who are able to reinvest in the quality of their services and vessels and who compete effectively on a level playing field.

“With competitors pricing below cost in order to gain market share in the short term, we were forced to withdraw the European Seaway freight ship and have incurred substantial lay up costs and a fall in profitability. This year has seen Eurotunnel reach 60% market share in the tourist market, before the MyFerryLink share was added in.”

P&O spokesman Chris Laming welcomed the decision. “We saw the backing of My Ferry Link by Eurotunnel as a kind of overt subsidy because we didn’t think My Ferry Link would be capable of standing on its own two feet,” he said.

P&O had no objection to a competitor entering the market at any time “as long as they come in without the backing of Eurotunnel or any third party backer such as a government agency or region.”

The company employs 2,000 staff on the Dover-Calais route. Mr Laming said the ruling meant that British jobs were in “a slightly better position than they were before My Ferry Link was invented.”

Carsten Jensen, managing director of DFDS Seaways English Channel services, was relieved by the decision because it gave more security to his employees. The company would continue to develop the services for the long-term benefit of the customers and long-term sustainable jobs.

“We have been increasing our headcount since we started the operation in February 2012 and we’re building it up for the high season now,” Mr Jensen said. “We are continuously creating jobs and activities around Kent and Dover and we are going to continue with that.”

The competitive situation with Eurotunnel, already a major cross-Channel player with the tunnel, was unsustainable. The Competition Commission had expressed concern that the My Ferry Link competition might for one of the two other operators to quit, reducing competition and potentially raising fares, a prospect that Mr Jensen called “a real scenario.”

“We are not against competition,” he said. “On the contrary, we are ourselves an initiator of competition but it has to be on fair and equal terms.”