No word on Condor Liberation return date after UK coastguard detains vessel

Thursday 17 March 2016

Condor’s £50 million Liberation vessel is expected to be out of action for part of the weekend at least, after it was detained in port by the UK coastguard agency yesterday.

The ferry company – which has been heavily criticized over delays, cancellations and customer service in recent weeks and months – says that it will announce when it expects the vessel to return to action by noon today.

Yesterday, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed that they had discovered “substantial deficiencies” in the vessel, and that they had impounded the ship in Poole after a routine inspection.

It will not be allowed to leave the port until the MCA agree, and until inspectors from Liberation’s registered home port in the Bahamas say it can go.

The detention of the vessel is another blow for Condor, which has recently agreed to update ministers every month on progress that they are making to improve their service.

Five months ago, an expert engineer report paid for by the company with terms of reference agreed jointly with the States’ Economic Development department concluded that the vessel was, in the words of the department “well built and suited to operating in the English Channel”.

A statement from the Council of Ministers confirmed that they were demanding answers from Condor about what was happening.

The statement yesterday afternoon said: “Ministers are aware of the developments relating to the Condor Liberation and have asked Condor for an urgent explanation.

“Condor are holding a Board meeting, following which they will provide an update on the full facts, and on any subsequent action they will take to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”

Condor have rescheduled their conventional ferries and brought in a charter ship to support the lifeline freight service in the meantime.

In their statement, they said: “Tuesday’s routine annual inspection of Condor Liberation by the MCA and Affaires Maritimes coincided with planned repair and maintenance to the propulsion and steering systems on a non-sailing day. “Consequently, the MCA found that until these systems were back in working order, the ship would be subject to a Detention Order. As is usual, a number of other matters were identified during the inspection, all of which will also be rectified before the ship returns to service.

“Once the repairs are complete, as a result of the Order, the ship will undergo re-inspection by the MCA (and all our port states), our classification body (DNV-GL) and our flag state (the Bahamas).

“Regrettably, the need for re-inspection following the successful completion of the repairs and maintenance means that our operating schedule will be disrupted for at least part of this weekend. Liberation is expected to return to service in a matter of days; the exact return to service date is expected to be confirmed today.”