Condor accident report: “Vessel was within safe limits”

Wednesday 27 May 2015

The accident that saw Condor’s new £90 million ferry put out of action on its second day in operation was down to problems with manoeuvring systems – not a problem with the ship itself, according to an internal review.

Condor have released a report into the accident on 28 May, when the new fast ferry crashed into the berth in St Peter Port harbour.

The report – carried out by Condor themselves but verified by the Guernsey Harbourmaster – said that the ship was fully crewed, that the crew knew what they were doing, and that they made a proper assessment of the conditions.

But it also found that a contributory factor was the Master of the vessel's decision to switch on the “auto” rather than “manual” manoeuvring controls - a move they found was reasonable in the circumstances, but with hindsight was not necessarily right. His first attempt to dock failed, and when he tried again at a different berth, a gust of wind pushed it off course and it struck a steel piling.

The resulting damage put the vessel out of action for a week and caused travel disruption for Islanders.

Condor say that they have repaired all of the damage, reconfigured the manoeuvring systems and put in place better ways to share information between crew while docking – they also say that they will work with the ports to improve fendering on the berths.

In a statement issued alongside the report, Condor Executive Director – Operations, Captain Fran Collins said that the ship was sailing within safe limits.

She said: “We are pleased to have completed this detailed investigation with the Guernsey Harbour Master. The joint findings confirm that the crew on board were highly experienced; they have been with the ship since her acquisition last year.

“An appropriate assessment of the expected conditions was completed by the Masters and Operations team before the ship sailed – Condor Liberation was at all times operating within safe limits.

“We have already completed a number of actions, following the incident, including the approved repairs to the ship, agreeing interim berthing limits with the Guernsey Harbour Master and the systematic sharing of information between Masters on the ship with respect to manoeuvring in different conditions.

“In addition, we will work with the ports to improve fendering and the continual assessment of the ship’s manoeuvring system to identify and implement fine tuning to optimise manoeuvrability.”