A new rescue plan to be submitted by SeaFrance to a commercial court in Paris on 16 June will make provision for 700-750 job cuts out of a total workforce of around 1,600 personnel, IFW understands.

It compares with the 482 jobs that were to have been cut under an initial rescue plan which was rendered null and void at the end of April, when the embattled SNCF-owned cross-Channel operator was granted court protection in the form of a French safeguard procedure, similar to Chapter 11 in the US.

In a recent letter to all of SeaFrance's staff, company President Pierre Fa warned that the new rescue plan would have a more severe impact on jobs than the previous one.