Minister tells Condor: "Get a better ferry"

Monday 21 September 2015

After a weekend of travel misery, chaos and delays, ferry company Condor have been told to sort themselves out and invest in a better vessel.

Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham says that Condor should move its blighted catamaran Liberation to the Jersey to St Malo route, and sail a conventional fast ferry between Jersey, Guernsey and the UK.

And after months of problems with Liberation - Condor's £50 million fast ferry, which only came into operation in March - the Senator says that the company need to invest in a more reliable boat that's right for the route.

"Basically, they need another boat," he said.

The Senator spoke out after a weekend of turmoil for Condor, which included a passenger protest in Poole after 70 people were told they couldn’t sail – which in turn prevented another 69 vehicles and their passengers from travelling, all day-trips being cancelled on Saturday, most sailings delayed or rescheduled and Condor advising passengers to cancel all ‘non-essential’ travel until Wednesday.

Over the weekend, a petition on change.org to reintroduce competition on ferry services - effectively to invite a new operator to challenge Condor - gained over 1,500 online signatures. You can see the petition here.

Condor’s problems began on Thursday when engineers discovered a problem with the £50m Liberation’s exhaust system.

Their weekend of disruption – when Jersey’s tourism season is still in full swing – was exacerbated by the absence of the Condor Clipper, which is dry dock to have its own exhaust systems updated. It meant that the Condor Rapide had to be brought in as back up, which in turn affected sailings to France.

“The fleet is clearly not robust enough for a reliable year-round service,” said Senator Farnham, who has told his officers to pore over the States’ agreement with Condor, signed earlier this year, to see if it has been broken.

“It works if everything is fine but as soon as there is a problem the plan is thrown into disarray.

“I am determined to make sure that the operator – Condor or perhaps another company in the longer term – provides a fleet that is up to the job. We need a conventional fast-ferry on the northern route because the current situation is unsustainable. Even when the Liberation is running to schedule, having a 3 am departure from the UK is not good for Condor’s business or that of the islands.

“The Rapide is coming to the end of its life so the Liberation could move to the southern route to make way for a more dependable ship on the northern route.

“Of course, I don’t blame Condor for the weather or even for technical problems; these things happen. But what is inexcusable is the lack of a back-up plan when the unexpected occurs. Phones that aren’t answered, passengers arriving in the middle of the night when there are no taxis or buses, people being overbooked … it all has to stop.”

Senator Farnham said he would be demanding a meeting with Condor as soon as possible to make his feelings known. His opposition number in Guernsey, he said, was “singing off exactly the same hymn sheet”.

Condor hopes that the Liberation will return to schedule on Wednesday.