DFDS Jersey bid to include high-speed ferries

Ferry company DFDS has confirmed its bid to serve Jersey only will include high-speed ferries, dedicated freight vessels, and ships that can carry both passengers and commercial loads.

The Danish operator would also not include any "incumbent" Condor vessels in its proposal for the contract, vice president Filip Hermann said.

The ships that would be used already belonged to the operator's fleet or had already been chartered by the company, he added.

Mr Hermann also challenged comments by Guernsey's Economic Development President Deputy Neil Inder that the ferry company's pan-island bid failed on legal grounds.

He insisted the proposed contract arrangements, which included DFDS's right to change service requirements if their profitability altered, were reasonable for any "prudent and responsible operator".

He said these circumstances would only be applied "under a set of special circumstances".

He did not confirm if the clause would be included in DFDS's bid for the Jersey-only ferry contract.

Mr Hermann said the company had not received any official feedback about why its bid failed.

DFDS is hoping to be offered a 15-year contract, which Mr Hermann said he believed was "the right length" of time for the company to deploy a new fleet and fulfil its proposals.

He added: "We believe in long-term partnerships and that's what is offered when there is a contract of 15 years. That means we can develop it together and build a great service together."

Mr Hermann said he was "disappointed" to have lost the bid to serve both islands, as he believed DFDS "would have made a difference in Guernsey".

He said: "We will look to have a good relationship with whoever serves Guernsey to see what we can do together to serve both islands' inhabitants."

Mr Hermann added that throughout the tender process he had found interactions with the Channel Islands' governments to be "professional and capable".

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