Condor’s rivals called in to help

Monday 21 March 2016

Brittany Ferries have agreed to lend a high-speed ferry to Condor to give them more support, according to reports over the weekend.

It’s understood that Brittany Ferries made contact with the Chief Ministers of Jersey and Guernsey at a Tour de France event in Paris in January – and now a deal is being done to draft in the Normandie Express as extra cover.

Ministers in Guernsey confirmed the deal over the weekend, but Jersey’s politicians have also been working behind the scenes on adding more support.

This weekend, Condor’s £50 million Liberation vessel came back into service after being detained by the UK coastguard agency over “substantial deficiencies” to engines, fire doors and steering that have now all been resolved.

In a statement over the weekend, Guernsey-based marine specialists the Bachmann Group - who work in crew management, employment and HR services - said that they had helped the States of Guernsey.

Nick Saul, CEO of Bachmann's, said" "After being approached by the Guernsey Government, Bachmann's has been pleased to offer help and suggest options that are available to the current operator and to Guernsey.

"Many people take Bachmann's just as a employer of crew, however that is only the very tip of what we do,  we own vessels and run them on behalf of our clients, we technically operate them and as can be seen are able to give advice."

A spokeswoman for the Marine and Coastguard Agency said: "On Friday evening, MCA surveyors re-inspected the vessel Condor Liberation and have released it from detention.

“We are satisfied that the defects found in the above name vessel have been rectified.

“The MCA does not set up additional safety requirements but enforces the rules and standards laid down in international agreements on ships regardless of the flag they are flying."