Management and unions at SeaFrance were to set to begin a final round of negotiations on Friday, aimed at reaching a long sought-after agreement on a recovery plan.

The SNCF-owned Channel ferry operator is on course to lose ?36m (US$54m) this year.

The negotiations, chaired by government-appointed mediator Daniel Cholley, had been due to end on 30 November, but broke-up without an agreement.

Cholley said some progress had been made in meetings between management and unions, but it had not been enough to finalise a deal.

For example, the number of redundancies contained in the rescue plan - initially 650, before being reduced to just below 550 in June - was now estimated at 482.

Severance and bonus packages for workers who accept voluntary redundancy have been improved by ?5,000 to ?30,000, while more money has been made available to staff who agree to quit SeaFrance to set up their own businesses.

And the number of job opportunities elsewhere in the SNCF group being offered to redundant SeaFrance workers has also been increased to more than 400.

With the 30 November deadline passed, Cholley drew up "ultimate proposals" and gave both parties 72 hours to consider them ahead of Friday's talks.

Cholley told IFW: "Over the past six weeks I've got to know SeaFrance inside out, and I can tell you that if agreement is not reached on 4 December, the next port of call for the company will be the bankruptcy court.