SociétéNationale Corse Méditerranée (SNCM), the French ferry company, plans to ordereight vessels in a fleet renewal programme that would mean an investment of€800 million, a report in France says.

TheMarseilles based company contacted 21 shipyards with regards of the plannedorders, received response from 15 of which the company selected six for furthertalks and now has a shortlist of three, the report in Les Echos daily says.

STXFrance, which is 34% controlled by the Frebch state and 66% by STX Europe thatagain is part of South Korean STX Business Group, is among the three. The othertwo yards are from Japan and South Korea, the report says.

SNCM isexpected to choose the builder by the end of the year and deliveries wouldbegin in late 2015 at a pace of two ships per year.