Condor say freight services back up to capacity

Friday 01 August 2014

Condor Ferries has drafted in two charter ships to supply the Channel Islands while repairs to the Commodore Clipper are carried out following last month’s accident.

The ferry firm has announced that it has chartered two vessels Arrow and MN Toucan to keep supply lines open throughout the summer – they say that the vessels will get their capacity up to normal levels.

Condor’s main freight vessel, Commodore Clipper, needs what the company is calling “complex repairs” after hitting the bottom of the sea-bed in the channel into Guernsey harbor on 14 July.

The vessel is expected to be out of service until 26 August, and the accident is now being investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

Condor announced yesterday that the second charter vessel Arrow will arrive in the Islands this weekend, joining Commodore Goodwill and MN Toucan in helping to keep the Islands connected and supplied.

Arrow will operate on the route between Portsmouth, Guernsey and Jersey, in addition to the ongoing service provided by Commodore Goodwill and the charter MN Toucan – which began operating earlier this week.

Ports and Guests Services Director at Condor Ferries, Captain Fran Collins, said: “We are completely committed to keeping our Islands connected and supplied via the lifeline service which we are privileged to provide.

“We are continuing to work very closely with our freight customers to protect the supply chain to our Islands. With their support, even before the arrival of our two charter ships, we had shipped 80% of expected freight and we’d like to thank our customers, colleagues and port operators, for their understanding and cooperation over the last couple of weeks.”

Arrow is a roll-on/roll-off freight vessel which has been used previously by Condor between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands when either Commodore Clipper or Commodore Goodwill has been in dock for routine maintenance work.