New “rapid” process to confirm Jersey ferry provider

Wednesday 13 November 2024

The Council of Ministers has voted to embark on a new “rapid” process to confirm the new ferry service which would be “short and simple”, the Economic Development Minister revealed in the States this morning.

Deputy Kirsten Morel said that both bidders – Brittany Ferry owned incumbent Condor, and Danish ferry provider DFDS – failed to win the tender.

Deputy Morel's impromptu statement today was also the first time he confirmed that the bid from Condor’s rival DFDS was “the better of the two” – but he revealed that the Danish ferry service had been “eliminated” from the process on a “technical legal point”.

That point was to do with an area DFDS had indicated they wanted to negotiate on. The Minister said he was unable to "fathom" why they had to be failed over a hypothetical negotiation with no defined outcome.

Meetings are now set to be held with both Condor Ferries and DFDS next week, Deputy Morel said, and “independent evaluators will assess the bids”.

Officers will provide a preferred bidder recommendation by the end of this month, and he will then seek the Council of Ministers support for the recommendation, before announcing the winner also before the end of November.

The winner will start their service at the end of March 2025. It comes after it was yesterday confirmed that Condor has refused the Government's offer to extend its current ferry contract by seven months.

Deputy Morel said there were "strong reasons" why Jersey had taken longer than Guernsey and spent time outlining the financial difficulties that Condor Ferries is currently facing.

He described the incumbent company as "distressed", and said that there was no guarantee from majority shareholder Brittany Ferries on how to protect Condor and ensure the vessels stay safe, were they to fall into administration.

Deputy Morel also revealed that, last year, he received "two requests for financial support from Condor Ferries – the first was for an 80 million euro guarantee and the second for 40 million euros, with 10 million needed urgently".

"Condor’s insolvency was ultimately prevented without the need for public funds from Jersey but we decided, with Guernsey, to protect our lifeline services by engaging contingency at a cost so far, of approximately £3million to each island," he said.

He further explained that he had been told Condor would likely need funding of up to £36m from the Government of Jersey "to see out its contractual obligations".

Elsewhere during the question-and-answer session, the Minister also confirmed that DFDS do have boats to ready to serve the Jersey route – despite suggestions made by his counterpart in Guernsey – and are open to exploring a Jersey-only contract.

Deputy Morel said he thought a Jersey-only contract may have benefits for the island, such as faster freight times, with no need to stop at another Channel Island. He confirmed that an inter-island route would still be on the cards, even if separate operators were selected.

Guernsey’s government unilaterally announced their preferred bid was Brittany Ferries at the end of last month.