The Danish shipping company due to take over the island’s freight and passenger ferry services at the end of the month is contacting customers affected by sailing cancellations after making “minor amendments” to its schedule.

DFDS has said it does not anticipate making regular schedule changes, but stressed that its priority is to implement a service “that is both reliable and robust, and one which best serves the requirements of the wider community”.

The alterations were highlighted on social media, after passengers were informed that there would not be any sailings going ahead between Portsmouth and Jersey on a Sunday until “at least” 16 April.

The Sunday cancellations amount to three sailings out of the full schedule.

In a statement, a DFDS spokesperson confirmed the operator had made “minor amendments to its schedules” following discussions with freight and tourism sector representatives in Jersey, “standardising the departure times to and from Portsmouth for life-line freight and improving connections with St Malo”.

The statement continued: “As a result, there have been adjustments to our sailing times and where possible, these have been kept to within an hour of the original departure time.

“We are in the process of contacting all affected customers offering them the opportunity to move their booking to another, date free of charge, or offering them a full refund should they choose to cancel.

“We thank you for your understanding.”

It added: “We do not anticipate making regular amendments to our schedules, but our priority is to implement a service that is both reliable and robust, and one which best serves the requirements of the wider community.”