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Selecting Danish shipping giant DFDS as the next ferry provider for Jersey this week marked the first time that Condor lost the route since the initial tender in 1997. Express took a look at what this could mean for the island...
The announcement came over a month after a joint inter-island tender process fell apart when Guernsey unilaterally selected Brittany Ferries.
After a new tender process for a Jersey-only route, DFDS was announced on Tuesday evening as the island's preferred operator.
But what happens next? Express took a look at what the process entails...
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said the decision to select DFDS was made "after very long and careful consideration" and would "secure the best possible ferry service for us, long into the future".
Video: Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham and Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel at a press conference yesterday.
While details of the decision aren't publicly available, Ministers have hinted at some of their priorities.
Deputy Farnham and Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel stressed that the tender had been "thorough" and was independently evaluated.
The decision was a huge change, Deputy Morel said, but would give islanders "good pricing" along with reliability and resilience secured by DFDS's 70-strong fleet.
Filip Hermann, Vice-President and Head of Business Unit Channel & Baltics at DFDS, said the company was "incredibly happy and proud and humbled at the same time of having the honour to serve Jersey" and that they knew of the "huge responsibilities" involved.
Jersey's announcement made DFDS the island's "preferred bidder" – but some negotiations still have to take place before a final contract is drawn up, Deputy Morel said.
He and Mr Hermann agreed that negotiations should not present any problems.
There is still work ahead, though, to iron out the details of the service.
Deputy Farnham said DFDS was due to serve the same routes as Condor currently offers: Poole, Portsmouth and St Malo.
Ministers are promising more frequent services, including day trips.
"We're also pleased that DFDS are going to be putting on additional services, up to four round-trips [to St Malo] daily at peak times," the Chief Minister said.
Deputy Morel added that services to Guernsey would continue.
"Really importantly for islanders, there will be inter-island services," he said.
"It's a fact that today's operating agreement is a Jersey-only service operating agreement, which, in the operating agreement, doesn't require services to Guernsey, but we obviously clearly have services to Guernsey. So this is no different from the existing situation."
He said he was due to speak to his Guernsey counterpart about the arrangement, and that this would be "a conversation between operators".
He told Express that it had not yet been decided which company would provide inter-island services, or if both would serve the route.
The 2025 timetable could be published by the end of next week, Deputy Farnham said.
Mr Hermann didn't confirm this deadline, but said DFDS was working "as hard as we can" and was putting other priorities aside to get the 2025 timetable out.
DFDS has not yet released exact details of the ships it will use, but has confirmed a dedicated fleet of four vessels – including a ropax for both freight and passengers, as well as two high-speed vessels.
One of the company's draws, Deputy Farnham said, was that DFDS had promised to deliver "new investment" into the fleet.
This is due to include new high-speed vessels.
Deputy Morel added: "Going forward, we will be seeing really important fleet investment toward hundreds of millions of pounds being delivered into a new fleet of environmentally-friendly ships.
"That kind of new fleet element will start in the next few years and be delivered in this entirety by the early 2030s."
The new fleet, he said, would be world-leading and sustainable. All of this forms part of contract negotiations.
Mr Hermann said the headquarters for the route would be based in Jersey, ensuring "strong leadership" would be on-site and the company could build ties with islanders.
Pictured: Filip Hermann, DFDS's Head of Business Unit Channel & Baltics, at the negotiating table at the Radisson Hotel in April. (Dave Ferguson)
Deputy Morel said that this would create employment opportunities – but noted that exact numbers were yet to be confirmed.
He added: "That's a really good opportunity for us in terms of developing expertise in ferry services, because Jersey hasn't been the headquarters of our ferry services anytime in my lifetime."
DFDS had worked with Jersey's government for "an extended period of time", he added, conducting berthing trials and investigating how operations could work.
Deputy Morel said that he was not anticipating any teething problems.
"The people we have met and dealt with through this process have been extremely pragmatic, welcoming and collaborative – and I think we can build on that," he said.
Mr Hermann praised the "excellent services" already present in Jersey, and said DFDS "would be happy to welcome as many [staff] as possible on this new business with us".
It has been confirmed that DFDS's pricing for freight users will be done using a flat-rate card, rather than by volume.
Deputy Morel said: "From Jersey's perspective, our economy can only thrive if we have excellent, reliable ferry services.
"And transparency and pricing is part of that, because that then enables anyone, from supermarkets to the person ordering goods via online retailers, to know what the freight pricing side of things is, and then that enables people to compete on top of that."
This has been part of Government policy for about a year, according to Deputy Morel – and Jersey asked for it specifically in the tender process.
Deputy Morel and Mr Hermann said DFDS were keen to work with local actors such as the Jersey Hospitality Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Jersey to bring tourism to the island.
The Ministers said hadn't heard of any concerns regarding Blue Islands, but Deputy Farnham acknowledged that inter-island travel was "very expensive at the moment" – and said that DFDS could potentially improve inter-island opportunities and competition.
Although he was hoping not to go through another ferry tender for a long time, the Chief Minister said there would be lessons to be learnt from the process.
"We would welcome full scrutiny review process," said Deputy Farnham.
"Scrutiny will do that and they'll do a through job of it – and I'm positive that the process will stand up to scrutiny.
"But we can always learn."
Deputy Morel added that the first, joint, tender process had also been "valuable".
Subject to the completion of negotiations, the 2025 timetable is due to be published by the end of next week.
DFDS said that islanders wishing to book a ferry for next year can fill in an expression of interest form online, and the operator will be in touch when bookings are opened.
Yesterday, Guernsey signed a 15-year contract with Brittany Ferries for the island's lifeline sea links.
Economic Development Committee president Neil Inder said: "Negotiations with Brittany Ferries on a Guernsey-only service have progressed at pace so that we can give assurance to our community, our economy, and our critical supply chain.
"We are confident the new schedule offers the community consistency and resilience.
"The Committee selected Brittany Ferries as its preferred bidder after a detailed 10-month tender in which its bid met all criteria set out within the tender."
Pictured: Deputy Neil Inder is Deputy Kirsten Morel's counterpart in Guernsey.
He added: "I know we’ll be asked so I will confirm now that no public money is committed to Brittany Ferries in support of the delivery of the schedule.
"Brittany Ferries believes the schedule will enable it to be commercially viable and we are confident it strikes the right balance between enabling the company to achieve that while providing the lifeline services that we need.
"This is an important step in delivering the certainty for our community that our Committee set out to achieve."
Deputy Inder is also due to be grilled by a scrutiny panel about the ferry tender process on Monday morning.
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