Chad Murray’s new boat has arrived in Guernsey and is being prepared for sea trials before starting a new daily inter-island service later this month.
The former Harbourmaster set up Islands Unlimited to offer daily sailings for foot passengers between Guernsey and Jersey when the pan-island ferry contract tender process broke down and each island signed contracts with individual operators.
With Brittany Ferries operating a once per week service between Guernsey and Jersey, and DFDS not yet offering any, Mr Murray spotted a gap in the market to launch a new operator and those sailings are on schedule to start on 30 May.
The San Pawl is a 390T, 316 passenger high speed catamaran.
It arrived in Guernsey over the weekend, having been brought across from Malta where she had her annual statutory out of water maintenance and surveys carried out.
Now she is in St Peter Port Harbour, the San Pawl will have sea-trials before being passed to offer passenger sailings between Guernsey and Jersey.
Islands Unlimited’s CEO, Captain Murray recently said he was “really pleased with the ship”.
“Whilst she is old in terms of age, her previous operator, Virtu Ferries, have clearly looked after her throughout her life and she continues to offer a safe and reliable option for inter-island foot passengers.”
Captain Murray spent time operating the San Pawl as Master in Malta and said he was “impressed with her sea keeping qualities and manoeuvrability”.
“As a surface effect ship, the air cushion system provides good comfort, even in moderate to rough sea conditions, as well as good efficiency and speed,” he said.
The San Pawl’s crew will be spending time on familiarisation training, drills, safety training, and operational trials, as well as setting up elements such as the onboard café and bar before she enters service at the end of this month, said Captain Murray.