October 29, 2020

Public Aid to Brittany Ferries Reaches EUR 258 million

  • 75% of traffic lost
  • Cherbourg, Saint-Malo, Roscoff and Le Havre have been closed
  • Only 6 of 12 vessels in operation

Regional aid:

  • Somanor (Normandie region, financing the ships chartered to Brittany Ferries) EUR 45m
  • Somabret (Bretagne region, financing the ships chartered to Brittany Ferries) EUR 40m
  • (Somanor+Somabret: five-year extension of the amortization period of the ships and a support for major repairs for five years)

State aid:

  • Credit line EUR 117m with State guarantee of EUR 105.3m
  • EUR 8.3m partial unemployment (until end of August)
  • EUR 15m exemption of social contributions of seafarers (for 2021)
  • Like all French shipping companies BF already enjoys the employer exemption for these social contributions. The State therefore adds a sum of EUR 44.6m for the period 2017-mid 2020.

Putting things in perspective:

  • CMA CGM has secured a EUR 1.05 billion State Guaranteed Loan
  • Air France has a EUR 4 billion loan.