Fairground 'fun' delays Condor sailings

Wednesday 10 July 2024

Passengers travelling with Condor between Portsmouth and Jersey this week have been urged to brace for delays due to... a visiting fairground?

Poor weather conditions, engine troubles or schedule changes are perhaps among the more expected rationale for a scheduled departure to be set back.

But Condor gave a slightly unusual reason for delays to the Islander service between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands this week.

The ferry operator said this was "due to additional time required to load and unload the fairground that is visiting Jersey".

All sailings running from Tuesday 9 July until Friday 12 July have been impacted, including tonight's sailing from Portsmouth to Jersey.

All affected customers were contacted, with Condor apologising for the "delay to the service and any inconvenience this may cause".

Pictured: Condor shared information about the delay on its website.

When asked for more detail by Express, a Condor spokesperson explained that the message related to a fun fair for the Battle of Flowers next month, as it is brought over and set up in advance.

It's not the first unusual delay that Islander has been associated with in recent weeks...

Last Thursday, the ferry operator confirmed the vessel had to stay in the island overnight after it "came into light contact" with the east berth in St Helier harbour on arrival.

Pictured: The Islander recently suffered a 'bump' which held it in Jersey overnight.

More than 100 passengers - around half of which were schoolchildren – were left stranded in Jersey overnight and had to stay in hotels.

A spokesperson for the ferry operator, which is currently hoping to retain the contract as the islands' main ferry provider, said: "The vessel was assessed by engineers and remained overnight in Jersey before continuing to Guernsey this morning and then on to Portsmouth.

"Passengers bound for Guernsey were accommodated by Condor in hotels in Jersey and freight shipments are being realigned onto other vessels in the fleet.

"Condor regrets the inconvenience caused."

The operator recently unveiled its new winter schedule and invited customers to pre-book for next summer.