CEO expects “normal” Clipper service by weekend

Tuesday 31 December 2019

The Chief Executive Officer of Condor expects the Clipper will be “back to normal” this weekend after a dramatic pre-Christmas ramp failure trapped dozens of vehicles on board.

The boat is due to be repaired in Portsmouth towards the end of this week as the ferry operators await a special ramp mechanism to be custom-made after the technical failing.

Breaking down shortly after setting sail for Portsmouth, the fault trapped 70 cars, vans and motorcycles inside the vessel – meaning the company had to provide hire cars to the affected passengers.

Pictured: The Clipper will be repaired in Portsmouth.

Now, Condor CEO Paul Luxon has confirmed that the last vehicles stuck on the Clipper were rescued from the ship on Sunday as the slow boat is set to be repaired in Portsmouth after part of the ramp mechanism locking into place.

Mr Luxon told Express: “They are busy fabricating the replacements now, and then the repairs will be done between the 2nd January and the 4th. Everything should be back to normal by the 5th," he said. 

"The Clipper has continued to run through all of this apart from on the 24th, but only for freight. Then we have got the Arrow - our back up Ro-Ro vessel - to cover for the Clipper while the repairs are done in Portsmouth." 

While it was trying to recover the vehicles, Condor arranged for passengers whose cars were stuck to have hire cars, whether they were in Guernsey, Jersey or Portsmouth. Mr Luxon said they did everything they could to accommodate people while they were trying to deal with the issue.

Pictured: Condor provided hire cars to all affected passengers.

"We have to offer a massive thanks to our passengers for their stoicism, and also to our freight customers. It was horrible timing for this to happen at Christmas, but we are incredibly grateful for everyone's patience." 

Immediately following the breakdown, Condor issued a statement saying: "Condor sincerely regrets this event and is acutely aware of the seasonal sensitivity being so close to Christmas and this being the last main freight delivery day I to the CI’s. Every contingency option possible has been assessed, evaluated and sadly confronted with practical obstacles to implement."