Sea Containers, the troubled owner of GNER, the country’s flagship train service, has filed for bankruptcy after finding itself unable to repay a $115 million (£62 million) bond.

The Bermuda-registered group said the move to stave-off creditors through Chapter 11 protection would buy it buy time to sort out its struggles.

It insisted that only two subsidiaries - Sea Containers Services and Sea Containers Caribbean, were affected by the move. Business would continue as normal at GNER and other operating subsidiaries, it said.

However the fragile condition of Sea Containers’ is of significant concern to the government and to transport officials.

If it gives up the rail franchise the Department for Transport could be forced into hasily awarding a new franchise or into running the trains itself.

At the weekend it was reported that Clifford Chance, the law firm, had been asked by the Government to examine the legal situation and advise ministers on the options over the current franchise.

A move to renogiate the terms of the agreement with Sea Containers to make them more lenient is thought to have been ruled out.

The dramatic Chapter 11 move came as Eurotunnel, the Channel tunnel operator, warned that its situation remained "worrying."

In a statement accompanying its third quarter results, Jacques Gounon, chairman of Eurotunnel, said a "very serious uncertainity" weighed on its future.

The group, which saw sales in the three months to the end of September rise 7 per cent to £149.5 million, is to present a debt restructuring plan to creditors before the end of the month.

"Only a vote in favour of the plan... can remove this uncertainty," he said.

Bob Mackenzie, president and chief executive of Sea Containers, said: "Although we have not paid the ... notes we are optimistic about the success of our restructuring program and our ability to reach agreement with our creditors. We continue with our business strategy and for our key operating units it will be business as usual."

He added that the prime reason for seeking protection was to "prevent any individual creditor from taking action on its own, which would be against the interests of Sea Containers and the majority of creditors."

Sea Containers, whose shares were suspended by the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month, was founded in 1964 by James Sherwood, the transport tycoon. He left the company in March.

At its peak the group’s portfolio of businesses ranged from GNER to Orient Express Hotels and included trophy assets like the Hotel Cipriani in Venice.

In its statement this morning Sea Containers’ said it had total cash of $126 million of which $59 million was either restricted as security for obligations to third paties or held in subsidaries.

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