The administrative court in the Corsican city of Bastia will rule today on applications from Corsica Ferries and Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation to stop the award of the subsidised public service ferry concession for lines between Corsica and the French mainland.

Ministers have rejected a plea to fund the restoration of a ferry service between Northern Ireland and Scotland, which ran at a loss from 1997-1999.

Rising Italian ferry company Moby Lines is poised to take on a private equity fund as a small but significant minority partner, company chief executive Vincenzo Onorato has confirmed.

A SIGNIFICANT move into the Russian market may be on the cards if the Naples-based Grimaldi Group’s takeover bid for Finnlines goes through as widely anticipated.

The head of the Isle of Wight's foremost haulage company has told councillors he would not be in favour of creating a new ferry port.

Emanuele Grimaldi’s decision to raise the Grimaldi Group’s stake in Finnlines to 46.2%, and with it to launch a full takeover bid for the Finnish ferry company, appears to have been prompted by an unsolicited approach from the second largest shareholder in Finnlines eager to sell at price level it regarded as favourable.

Under the hammer Baltic ferry group Scandlines has reduced its stake in Danish operator Mols Linien to 30% as it prepares for the finale in its €1bn ($1.25bn) public sector sell-off.

After its fundamental business review, P&O Ferries is now "where we think we need to be", says spokesman Brian Rees.

Question marks still hang over the future of troubled ferry operator

Stena Line is to cease operating a fast ferry service on the Harwich-Hook of Holland route from January, and will invest £70m ($132m) in lengthening and upgrading the two ro-pax ferries operating on the route, it was confirmed yesterday.

East Anglia's car ferry link to the continent has been guaranteed until 2020 - but operators Stena Line have confirmed that it will now be just a slow boat to Holland.

Irish Ferries has introduced a new sailing schedule on their Dublin to Holyhead route to give passengers a greater spread of daylight trips. They will use the cruise ferry Ulysses and fast ferry Dublin Swift.

Fancy a short break on the high seas? Then snap up a mini cruise bargain to Belgium, Holland or Spain with 2 for 1 prices from P&O Ferries between October 1 and December 21.