Rumours are swirling that Condor’s old freight workhorse has been snapped up by DFDS after it was put up for sale with a €14m price tag – but the Danish shipping giant is remaining tight-lipped over the claims.
Once vital to Jersey’s supply lines, the 126m Commodore Goodwill went on the market in February, listed on a German website and shipselector.com.
While Condor parent Brittany Ferries is yet to confirm any buyer, speculation has been mounting in online forums.
Posts in the 12,700-member-strong Channel Islands’ Ferry Users Group and the 26,000-strong DFDS Ferry Forum pointed to “unconfirmed reports” that DFDS had bought the Goodwill from Condor to facilitate its Portsmouth-to-Jersey freight service were circulating.
But, when approached by Express, DFDS refused to confirm or deny the claims.
A spokesperson simply said that the operator would “not be taking the opportunity to respond”.
Since 1996, Condor’s Commodore Goodwill served the Channel Islands as its main freight carrier.
However, following the inter-island ferry debacle which saw Jersey ditch Condor after more than 30 years of service while Guernsey continued with the operator, it was decided that part of the fleet would be sold.
The Liberation and Clipper were first to be put on the market – listed as €24,000,000 and ‘price on request’ respectively – followed by the 29-year-old Goodwill.
At the same time it emerged that the ferries were up for sale, it was also reported that Condor Ferries staff at its Poole headquarters had been warned of 31 job losses.
The Bournemouth Daily Echo reported that a letter was sent to staff citing the cost of losing the contract for Jersey’s services for the necessary cut backs.
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