Confusion between companies over 'ferry loan'

Confusion has taken hold on the first day of Jersey's new ferry contract about whether or not one firm asked another if it could borrow a boat.

On Thursday, DFDS announced it had cancelled its first passenger sailings on its Tarifa Jet vessel for Friday between Jersey and St Malo with less than 24 hours' notice.

Chris Parker, DFDS's route director for Jersey, said the company had asked Condor to use its Liberation ferry but was told "it wasn't available".

Brittany Ferries - Condor's parent company - said it had not received any request to use one of its vessels, while a DFDS spokesperson insisted it had approached the other firm.

Mr Parker said a few things had been highlighted in an assessment with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency which needed to be sorted out before Tarifa Jet could sail.

"It's hugely disappointing and it's slightly embarrassing for us as DFDS to be completely honest with you," he added.

"But it's also very important that we get the ship right and ready to sail."

On Friday, DFDS said "operational changes" meant Saturday's crossing between Jersey and Portsmouth on the Stena Vinga had also been cancelled.

It added a revised schedule for Sunday had been issued with a Jersey to Portsmouth crossing leaving at 21:00.

"We recognise that this is not the service that you would expect from DFDS and we will be contacting and refunding in full anyone with an existing booking and we will provide a complementary return crossing in future," the company said on Facebook.

When asked if DFDS had searched for alternative ferries to use, Mr Parker told the BBC: "We asked Condor about using its Liberation boat, but they said it wasn't available."

But a spokesperson for Condor's parent company Brittany Ferries said: "It's a shame they [DFDS] did not have a contingency in place.

"Unfortunately, Condor Liberation was taken out of service, we have no crew available and our licence to serve the island ended yesterday.

"Plus, our operations team were not approached by DFDS or Jersey for support."

In response, a spokesperson for DFDS said: "I can confirm that Condor were approached, but were unable to assist."

Minister for Sustainable Economic Development Kirsten Morel said the situation with the cancelled crossing on day one was "not a very good start" to the new contract with DFDS.

He added he was pleased with how DFDS was communicating with affected customers, but said the matter was not a good first impression.

"We knew there would be teething problems and unfortunately that has come home to roost which is a shame, but it is what it is," Morel said.

Mr Parker said DFDS would work hard to make sure the problems were rectified as soon as possible.

He added: "We need to prove ourselves and we got off on the wrong foot here.

"We have a lot of work to do to basically prove ourselves over the coming months, but we will."

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