Elite French forces storm ferry seized by strikers

BASTIA, France - Crack French forces stormed a car ferry in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday to recapture it from about 50 striking workers who had seized the vessel in protest at plans to privatise their ferry company.

In a commando-style raid, five army helicopters circled over the large Pascal-Paoli ferry off the Mediterranean island of Corsica after dawn, troops sliding down ropes to swiftly seize control of the vessel.

Protesters commandeered the SNCM ferry from the southern French port of Marseille on Tuesday as part of a campaign to fight the sale of the state-owned firm, which is struggling to survive private sector competition.

Navy warships accompanied the vessel to the port of Toulon where it docked late on Wednesday. Four people on the ship were placed under arrest and others could face charges later, news reports said.

Those responsible for commandeering the ferry could face up to 20 years in prison as French law treats the seizure of a ferry like a plane hijacking, news reports said.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who officials said had ordered the operation, later met a senior union leader in Paris to discuss the proposed privatisation.

"I hope, at least that's what I've understood after this meeting, that the dossier is not closed, that there are things to discuss," said Bernard Thibault, whose CGT union supports protests over the SNCM sale.

The prime minister had agreed to a study to look at how far EU law would allow the government to go in saving SNCM. There was no comment from Villepin.

The government has picked Butler Capital Partners to invest in the loss-making ferry firm, which runs services to Corsica, Sardinia, Algeria and Tunisia.

Finance Minister Thierry Breton said the state was not opposed to retaining a stake in SNCM, signalling the government was backtracking. LCI television said it could keep a 15 per cent blocking minority of the ferry operator, something Butler was unlikely to accept.

Financial difficulties coupled with government plans to seek an injection of private capital into the 155-year-old company have led to a series of strikes since last year, bringing ferry traffic to a halt between mainland France and Corsica.

Workers are angry over sell-off plans that could lead to the loss of 400 jobs and have blocked southern French oil ports. That has added to the woes of Villepin's conservative government, which has made cutting unemployment a priority.

"The mutiny is politically delicate for the prime minister who is facing his first big conflict," the left-leaning Liberation newspaper said.

Shipping workers said on Wednesday they would extend a 24-hour strike at Marseille port, blocking access to the Lavera petrochemicals complex and the oil port of Fos-sur-Mer.

On Tuesday, the blockade stopped oil tankers from discharging but had not yet affected the refining hub's operations of about 570,000 barrels per day (bpd), French petroleum industry body UFIP said.

The Lavera-Fos refinery hub is a major source of oil products supply to the region, as well as to West Africa and the United States. Fos is a key inlet for liquefied natural gas.

- REUTERS