Condor “were warned about delays” – Minister

Tuesday 22 September 2015

The service that Islanders are getting from Condor is not fit for purpose, according to the Economic Development Minister – whose warning not to send a ship in for maintenance during September was ignored by the company.

Senator Lyndon Farnham – who yesterday said that the company needs to invest in a new vessel to service the UK and France routes properly – faces questions without notice in the States today.

Those questions are expected to focus on a promised report on the suitability of the new £50 million Liberation vessel, and the last weekend of travel delays and chaos when the Liberation was put out of action again, and while the Clipper was in dry dock for scheduled maintenance.

And he has revealed that he wrote to the company a month ago to warn them not to carry out scheduled maintenance in September.

Senator Farnham said: “I expressed concern earlier in the year about their schedule and urged them to consider changing it. I said that mid-September is a period when the requirement for reliance for a ferry service to the UK is at its highest. It’s not high season, but it’s a busy time of year when there is strong demand from visitors and locals.”

The Senator said that Islanders deserved better from the company, and that he had told his staff to carry out a review of the service.

He said: “The current situation is unacceptable. I just want the Channel Islands to have a reliable freight and vehicle passenger service. I do not think the travelling public are so demanding that they want anything extraordinary. They want something fit for purpose, which we do not have at the moment.

“We can accept bad weather from time to time, we can even accept that mechanical failure from time to time will happen. But what I cannot accept is that when it does happen the whole of the operation goes into disarray and almost comes into a standstill, not withstanding the Herculean efforts of the staff.

“The current position is completely unsustainable.

“I have instructed officers, with the approval of Condor and the States of Guernsey, to instigate the Comprehensive Service Review. That will look at the structure of the fleet and the performance of Condor to date and make the necessary recommendations for improvements.”