SNCM

SNCM

File:Sncm logo.svg
Industry	Passenger transportation Freight transportation
Founded	1850
Headquarters	Marseilles, France
Area served	France, Italy, Algeria, Tunisia
Website	www.sncm.fr

File:Mv-Danielle-Casanova-Bastia-fr-01.jpg

MS Danielle Casanova departing the port of Bastia

File:Pascal paoli port de bastia.jpg

MS Pascal Paoli

SNCM (Société Nationale Maritime Corse Méditerranée) is a French ferry company operating in the Mediterranean.

Its ferries sail from Marseille, Toulon, Nice on mainland France, Calvi, Bastia, Ajaccio, Ile Rousse, Propriano, and Porto Vecchio on Corsica, Porto Torres on Sardinia, Algiers, Oran, Skikda and Bejaia in Algeria as well as Tunis in Tunisia and Genoa in Italy.

SNCM traces its history back to 1850.

History

• In 1855, the Compagnie Générale Maritime was created.
• In 1861, the Compagnie Générale Maritime changed its name to the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.
• In 1969, the Compagnie générale transméditerranéenne (CGTM) was created by joining the Mediterranean services of the Compagnie générale transatlantique with the Compagnie de navigation mixte.
• In 1976, the CGTM came under state control and changed its name to SNCM. The state ownership was managed 75% by the Compagnie générale maritime (CGM) and 25% by the SNCF, the latter influencing the new name.

2005 privatization

In September 2005, French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin presented a project of privatization of the company. Villepin was to hand out the SNCM to Butler Capital Partners for 35 million euros, after a previous "recapitalisation" of 113 million euros (injection of new capital by the state). However, this project caused a public outcry, as it put into question the balancing out principle of public transports (péréquation), meaning that to insure the continuity of the national territory and the equality of all concerning this important territorial continuity. In other words, the state-owned SNCM was to insure transport between the mainland and Corsica all year long, even though in exclusive market terms it may be considered as not profitable enough, in order to insure the possibility for Corsicans to accede to administrative services as well as any other Frenchman. Moreover, Butler was Villepin's schoolmate and friend from l'ENA, the elite public servants school.

Following hard negotiations and a strike by the CGT trade-union and the Syndicat des travailleurs corses ("Corsican workers' trade-union"), a new project was presented. In May 2006, the company was privatized. Connex (which has since became Veolia Transport, a subsidiary of Veolia Environment group) took 28% of the SNCM (against 38% for Butler in the previous arrangement); the state kept 25% of the shares, and 9% sold to the employees. 400 layoffs were planned; in addition of the 113 million euros reinjected by the state before the privatization, 35 million euros were to be given to finance the layoffs.

In 2008, Butler sold its shares to Veolia, who became the main shareholder with 66% of shares. In 2011, the shares were passed on to Veolia Transdev (now simply Transdev), after Veolia merged with Transdev (historic).

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014 and was subsequently placed in receivership of the court of Marseilles.

Fleet

Ship	Flag	Built	Gross tonnage	Length	Width	Passengers	Vessels	Knots	Photos
Corse		1983	12.686 GT	145 m	23,8 m	1.800	620	22
Mediterranee		1989	30.985 GT	165 m	27,4 m	2.450	700	24
Monte D'Oro		1991	22.070 GT	145 m	25,7 m	528	130	19
Paglia Orba		1994	29.718 GT	165,8 m	29 m	544	120	19
Jean Nicoli		1998	30.010 GT	200,6 m	25,8 m	1.052	600	27
Danielle Casanova		2002	41.447 GT	176 m	30,4 m	2.204	700	23
Pascal Paoli		2003	35.760 GT	176 m	30,5 m	622	130	23

On charter from foreign companies

Ship	Flag	Built	Gross tonnage	Length	Width	Passengers	Vessels	Knots	Photos
Excelsior		1999	39.777 GT	202 m	28 m	2.253	760	23

Out of service

Ship	Flag	Built	Gross tonnage	Length	Width	Passengers	Vessels	Knots	Photos
Napoleon Bonaparte		1996	44.307 GT	172 m	30,4 m	2.462	660	23

External links

• Homepage of SNCM
• CGTM/SNCM at Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
• Ferries to Corsica Detailed technical specifications of the various ferry vessels, history, deckplans. (Italian)