Thousands stranded after weekend of Condor travel chaos

Monday 21 September 2015

Condor could face serious action over yet another weekend of travel chaos that saw sailings cancelled, police called to break-up a blockade of angry passengers, and the company beg customers to cancel their trips.

It follows a difficult weekend for the troubled ferry operator - when the travel plans of thousands of Islanders and visitors were disrupted because of a technical problem with Condor Liberation. The £50 million vessel - which has been plagued with problems since it came into operation just months ago - is now back operating but only at slower speeds, while the older Clipper is out of action for a service. Cancelled sailings, technical problemsCondor is asking all passengers travelling before Wednesday to cancel 'non-essential' journeys.

And after the weekend saw thousands of people stranded at either side of the channel, Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham says that he's stepping in to ensure that Islanders get a proper service from the ferry company.

He is now reviewing their contract and considering penalty clauses against Condor, and says that a service review is being brought forward to start immediately.

"Clearly the situation is unacceptable," said the Senator, in a statement over the weekend.

"Whilst Condor have instigated an element of contingency, the disruption to car and passenger services during what is a busy month for visitor’s and resident’s travel to and from the UK has been significant."

He says that he will re-examine the States' agreement with Condor and will fast-track a new review of car, passenger and freight services which was due to be completed in 2017.

The £50m fast ferry - which has a fraught history since joining the Condor fleet in March - is now back in service after a fault was discovered in one of the exhaust systems on Thursday. Sailings were cancelled over the weekend and the ship is now operating a reduced schedule at a slower speed than normal. The impact on passengers has been exacerbated by the lack of a conventional ferry - the Condor Clipper is in dry dock for a service.

Meanwhile, Condor is trying to get back on track. After all of Liberation's sailings to and from the Island were cancelled on Saturday, the ship sailed from Poole straight to Jersey on Sunday, then north to Guernsey and back to Poole. Passengers travelling from Guernsey to Jersey were put on the Condor Rapide.

Two services are also planned for Monday:  an early morning direct service from Poole to Guernsey and back, followed by an afternoon service from Poole direct to Jersey and back.

The sailing on Tuesday will be cancelled for further engineering work and Condor hope to resume a normal service on Wednesday 23 September.

Condor has also cancelled all day-trips and urged passengers to cancel if they can.

The company said: "We still need to free up as much capacity as possible for customers whose journeys are vital. Daytrips have already been cancelled and customers will be able to rebook at a later date at no extra cost, or can receive a full refund.

"We are also asking all other customers booked to travel between now and Wednesday 23 September and whose journey is not essential, to cancel their booking. To cancel, please do not phone us – demand on our phonelines is exceptionally high. Instead, please email customer.services@condorferries.co.uk with the subject line “CANCEL” quoting your booking reference. Your email will be acknowledged and a full refund will be given. As a gesture of appreciation, all (non daytrip) customers who cancel their booking will receive a £50 travel voucher.

"Wherever possible, we are putting in place alternative travel via Brittany Ferries and Condor Rapide for those customers whose journeys have already been disrupted. Customers who wish to rearrange their travel should contact our reservations or port teams in the usual way. Inevitably phone lines and ports will be exceptionally busy and we have called in all available staff."