SNCM: what happened to the Marseille to Corsica ferry company

SNCM was a major French ferry company that sailed from Marseille to Corsica, Algeria and Tunisia. It stopped trading in early January 2016, so unfortunately you can no longer book SNCM tickets.

Who was SNCM?

SNCM (Société Nationale Maritime Corse Méditerranée) was created in 1976 from the Mediterranean services of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, a French shipping line whose history went back to the 19th century. It began as a state-owned company and was partly privatised in 2006.

This company holds a strong place in the hearts of the AFerry family as it was one of the first ferry companies that we represented when we took over Southern Ferries in the early 2000s. We fully represented the company as its UK General Sales Agent for over a decade and ran a small retail outlet near Victoria in London throughout that time, serving many loyal and lovely French and North Africans.

Where did SNCM sail?

From Marseille, SNCM sailed to Ajaccio, Bastia, Île-Rousse, Propriano and Porto-Vecchio in Corsica, to Porto Torres in Sardinia, and across the Mediterranean to Algiers, Oran, Skikda and Béjaïa in Algeria and to Tunis in Tunisia. Its ferries included the Danielle Casanova, built in 2002, and the Pascal Paoli, built in 2003.

What happened to SNCM?

SNCM was placed in receivership by the Marseille commercial court in November 2014 after years of financial difficulty. In early January 2016 its ships and routes passed to a new company, Corsica Linea, and SNCM ceased to exist.

Is SNCM still operating?

No. Corsica Linea now runs ferries from Marseille to Corsica, Algeria and Tunisia, and from Sète to Algeria. Ferries on these routes today are shown below.