Ferry News Archive
French action - Ferries halted
Date: 22 May 2008 00:00 Source: Lloyds ListFerry services out of Calais and Dunkerque were halted yesterday as French fishermen intensified their countrywide campaign for government aid to help them cope with rocketing diesel fuel prices.
As fishermen’s leaders in Paris demanded government action yesterday morning to reduce the price of diesel fuel from €0.70 ($1.10) to €0.40, 80 fishing vessels moved into position to block access to the ferry terminal at France’s leading passenger port.
There was similar action at the neighbouring ports of Dunkerque, France’s third-ranking cargo port, and Boulogne-sur-Mer, the country’s leading fishing port.
At Dunkerque, a spokeswoman said all traffic, including the Norfolkline ferry service to Dover, was at a standstill as fishing boats blocked port accesses.
The action in northern France added to the blockades mounted by the fishermen at numerous oil depots and ports along the west and Mediterranean coasts to coincide with the meeting in Paris between their leaders and agriculture and fisheries minister Michel Barnier.
In Paris itself, four police officers were hurt, three of them seriously, in clashes between police and 300-400 fishermen near the ministry building where the meeting was taking place.
The fishermen launched smoke bombs, distress flares and other objects in the direction of police, who blocked access to the ministry. One of the police officers hurt was understood to have been hit in the leg by a flare.
The meeting between fishermen’s leaders and Mr Barnier was suspended in late morning after the fishermen insisted the minister meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy and prime minister François Fillon to obtain authorisation for measures to meet their demands.
Yesterday afternoon, the fishermen said they would not leave the ministry until they had obtained satisfaction, calling on the government to put pressure on the oil companies to bring the fuel price down.
Mr Barnier had proposed improving on a €310m aid plan announced in January, but the fishermen said this would not save their profession from being suffocated by recent fuel price rises.
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