Ferry's engine fix "taking longer than anticipated"

Monday 13 May 2019

The Condor Liberation will be out of action for essential maintenance this week due to engine problems, which are "taking longer than anticipated" to fix.

Condor Ferries has said it will use the Commodore Clipper between Poole and the Channel Islands this coming week to cover its routes, while a chartered freight vessel supports the usual Portsmouth operations.

The ferry firm had planned to relocate the Clipper to Poole over the weekend, so it can be ready to provide-cross channel passenger services from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 May. While that plan is in place, engineers are continuing to try and fix the problem with one of the Liberation's engines.

The freight-only MV Arrow will be standing in for the Clipper from Portsmouth to make sure Jersey and Guernsey's freight services continue.

Pictured: Condor CEO Paul Luxon.

Condor CEO Paul Luxon said: "We are disappointed that the repair to Liberation is taking longer than anticipated but the additional capacity brought in and our revised schedule is in line with published contingency plans and will maintain passenger and freight services across our network."

Clipper will replace Liberation in Poole and sail from Monday to Friday at 10:30 to Guernsey, arriving at 16:30, on to Jersey at 19:15, returning to Guernsey at 22:00, and back to Poole for 09:30 the following morning. Saturday will see a similar pattern with an earlier 09:00 departure from Poole. The MV Arrow takes over Clipper's round trip to Guernsey and Jersey from Portsmouth over the same six day period.

Liberation will return to service on Sunday 19 May and run on two engines until 24 May to allow for repairs to be completed.

"We believe that with this plan in place, the overwhelming majority of passengers will be accommodated and freight customers will see limited change to services", added Mr Luxon.

Condor's customer care teams are contacting passengers to offer a transfer or refund.