The Newhaven-Dieppe ferry service is likely to be out of action until the end of the month following last week's crash into Dieppe's harbour wall.
French operators Transmanche have been seeking to charter a ferry to replace the 17,500-tonne MV Dieppe, whose bow was damaged in the accident on February 4.
But it now looks as if the ferry service on the 67-mile route will not be resumed until February 28 when the Dieppe's sister ship, the Sardinia Vera, is scheduled to return after a refit.
Transmanche operations manager at Newhaven, Steve Forrest, said: "The service will not be operating this week.
"Transmanche has been trying to charter a vessel to fill the gap until the Sardinia Vera returns, which we are hoping will be on February 28, but nothing has yet been decided."
Maritime accident investigators in France are still looking into the crash, which happened as the 9am ferry from Newhaven docked at Dieppe.
The captain told passengers that the ship's engines would not go into reverse.
Passengers were flung to the floor and bruised in the crash but nobody was seriously injured.
Tuesday February 15, 2005
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