Author Topic: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways  (Read 44823 times)

Offline frederik

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #30 on: June 16, 2007, 06:08:31 PM »
Hi,

According to a docker from Ostend they started today with the discharging of the still loaded Ferryways-vessels. 2 of them where still loaded with freight for the UK.
Monday they will start loading and discharging trains and they are expecting 2 vessels on Tuesday to resume the sailings to the UK. They expecting other vessels because the Ferryways-vessels are still under detention, the docker said.

greetz,

frederik
Proud to be a Belgian docker!

Offline ferryold

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #31 on: June 16, 2007, 08:21:51 PM »
Dont understand.....

Offline bram provost

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #32 on: June 16, 2007, 09:18:46 PM »
the ferryways ships should be released on monday. some ships who are now anchored out of ostend can then go to ipswich and tilbury (as calibur is in mmingham) to restart service.

apparantly cobelfret and port of ostend have an agreement wich makes that cobelfret will bring 200.000 freight units each year. for now there is only a temporary deal; we should know more in 2 or 3 weeks.

the cff seine is now on charter to norfolkline in the irish sea , so that could bring the phocine and cervine (both being idle in zeebrugge now) to ostend.

Offline exferryman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #33 on: June 16, 2007, 09:19:50 PM »
Ferryold

14/06/07 From VRT News:

Quote
the board of Port of Ostend are putting pressure on Ferryways to resume activities. If it does not happen, the Port of Ostend will hand over the Ferryways terminal to another company.
 
Last week the company was taken over by the Antwerp agent Cobelfret.

Since yesterday work has been halted with Ferryways because the agent has large financial problems.
 
"This is obviously not possible. We have customers who relocated to the neighborhood because of these ferry lines", says the Ostend Port President Johan Vande Lanotte.

The unions suspect that the board will request bankruptcy with the commercial courtroom in Brugges tomorrow.
 
Bleeding to death scenario?
Possibly Cobelfret has aquired Ferryways to let the company bleed to death and eliminating a competitor that way.


15/06/07
Ferryways (owners now Cobelfret) petition to the Belgian Commercial Court to declare Ferryways NV bankrupt was thrown out in view of the above allegations.  

Instead the Court appointed a team of investigators to examine the actions of Cobelfret since the takeover of Ferryways.  This investigation is now ongoing but in the meantime the Court-appointed team have ordered a limited resumption of services from Ostend to Purfleet and Killingholme.

Does this make it more easy to understand?

Offline exferryman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #34 on: June 16, 2007, 09:31:22 PM »
Bram

This cannot be possible - all Ferryways (UK) Ltd staff  have been fired.
If ferry services resume to Ipswich and Tilbury there is no Agent to handle the vessels at these ports.

Instead the plan is to bring the Cobelfret ferries, "Phocine" and "Cervine" from Ostend to the Cobelfret terminals at Purfleet and Killingholme.

Offline CHIPS

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #35 on: June 18, 2007, 02:45:36 PM »
Has anybody got any breaking news on this subject please????      :roll:

Offline frederik

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #36 on: June 18, 2007, 03:58:14 PM »
Hi,

Dartline starts a new service in Ostend to Purfleet. They will start with 2 vessels, later maybe more and than they will also sail to Killingholme.

greetz,

frederik
Proud to be a Belgian docker!

Offline henrycourt

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways ostend blocked by.....
« Reply #37 on: June 18, 2007, 06:16:10 PM »
Hope you can update us when service starts with names of vessels running Purfleet service.

Offline spaceman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #38 on: June 18, 2007, 07:11:29 PM »
i work for cdmr (coblefret) at killingholm (hst)and we have not heard of any take over directly from our management however a few of my friend left to go to abp to work on there ro ro ships ie ferryways and they have stopped all work on there ships
also cdmr has changed our rotas againe so presently we have a gang extra which is enough to run the ferryways line
and would probabley be on the cervine or phocine vessels as the used to come in as our night boats going to zebrugge before we got the pauline and yasmine (which are bigger boats
if anyone knows any more please post :-?
Quote

exferryman wrote:
There was a pre-existing legal dispute between Ferryways and ABP.

Cobelfret claim not to have known about the legal dispute (which had existed and been in the public domain for many months), and sacked one of the senior Ferryways managers when they 'discovered' the fact.  However they were forced to re-instate him the following day after he pointed out to them that the Cobelfret board had been informed prior to the sale and he could prove it!
I expect Cobelfret are now protesting that they did not know they had sold all the Ferryways ships to a Cobelfret sister company either and therefore cannot understand why Ferryways suddenly became insolvent :lol:

Offline Ben Backstay

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #39 on: June 19, 2007, 07:26:58 AM »
To clarify the situation about ABP suing Ferryways, here is an article that appeared in Lloyds list last year:

ABP sues Ferryways over Ipswich facilities [11/15/2006 ]
 
ASSOCIATED British Ports is suing Belgian company Ferryways in a dispute over the port of Ipswich, writes Roger Pearson.

Lloyds List via NewsEdge Corporation :

ASSOCIATED British Ports is suing Belgian company Ferryways in a dispute over the port of Ipswich, writes Roger Pearson.

ABP is seeking High Court declarations over a written agreement made in September 2003 over the provision of services and facilities at the port.

The declarations centre around the wording of the agreement, and the port company wants the words 'empty trailers' to be read as 'empty slave trailers'.

ABP also claims that Ferryways is in breach of an agreement over minimum throughput, fixing the minimum throughput for the year to December 2005 at GBP323,414.

In a writ issued at London's High Court, ABP also seeks payment of all sums found due and owing, or damages for breach of contract, and interest.

<>

Offline exferryman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #40 on: June 19, 2007, 08:03:53 AM »
G'day Spaceman

"Phocine" and "Cervine" are due Ostend today to commence loading for Purfleet and/or Immingham.

Cobelfret will not currently use any of the old Ferryways vessels because as soon as one of them arrived at any port outside of Ostend they would surely be arrested by Ferryway's creditors (which includes unpaid Ferryways staff).

Whatever happens it is certain that Cobelfret/Dartline (or whatever name they try to use to hide the identity of the old Ferryways services) will never resume the Ostend to Immingham service.
 
This will mean that unless ABP Exxtor at Immingham can re-deploy the Ferryways stevedores onto their other services, there will be be redundancies there also.
It would be nice to see the UK CdMR stevedores refuse to work the "Phocine" and/or "Cervine" in protest.

There is still a possibility that the Belgian Courts will reverse the Cobelfret take-over and hand control back to the Ferryways Management.  (Quote from JM Denis - Chairman of Ferryways Board)

Offline TheMole

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #41 on: June 19, 2007, 10:51:04 AM »
Hi Pilot

Rumour is now that the Cobelfret directors appointed to the Ferryways board are trying to resign.
 
I wonder why would they do that if their claims to know nothing about this ABP dispute and other financial irregularities they have 'found' since buying Ferryways are true?

The plot thickens!

Offline spaceman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #42 on: June 19, 2007, 01:52:46 PM »
alright exferryman
just to let you know there was a meeting with the cdmr staff today and it has been confirmed that we at killingholme will have five night boats a week and it is the ferryways vessels
however the did not tell us when it would start but as ive

said we have had the extra manpower for some time
by the way nothing coblefret do would suprise me

Offline exferryman

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #43 on: June 19, 2007, 05:27:43 PM »
Thanks Spaceman

Phocine is now alongside in Ostend and due to sail 2200 for Purfleet.
Cervine is due to shift from Zeebrugge to Ostend later on and sail early hours of tomorrow, which would put her in Killingholme tomorrow evening.

Offline potts

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Re: Cobelfret Ferries buys Ferryways
« Reply #44 on: June 19, 2007, 06:54:32 PM »
Dose anyone know what the future holds for abp Ipswich RoRo.
does cobelfret intend to ever start a service here??? :-(

 

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