- Condor could face a £20 million penalty if a ‘serious’ breach of contract is discovered
- Economic Development Minister says government could cancel the operating contract
- How did the Liberation get here in the first place? Read more about her trans-oceanic voyage
- Take part in our poll – ‘Should Condor be made to pay £20 million if there has been a serious ‘breach’ of their contract? ‘
CONDOR could be forced to pay up to £20 million if the States find there has been a ‘serious’ breach of contract and decide to terminate their agreement with the ferry operator, the JEP has learnt.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said that he did not want to impose financial penalties on the company for its ‘unacceptable’ performance, as it had already suffered substantial losses, but added that the government could cancel the operating contract as a ‘last resort’.
As part of an ‘urgent’ service review, Senator Farnham said that lawyers from the Law Officers’ Department were analysing the operating contract to see whether Condor had committed any breaches.
The contract says that in the event of a ‘material’ and ‘wilful’ breach, either party could face a liability of up to £20 million.
Senator Farnham said: ‘It’s unlikely that a breach will be found, as there needs to have been a considerable number of cancellations for that to happen.
‘The operating contract is a comprehensive document, and we have officers examining it in case there has been a serious breach and looking at what options we can take.
‘Fining is not an option in the contract, so unless it is terminated there will not be any financial penalties. I think the most likely outcome would be for Condor to make improvements to the operating contract.
‘Whatever the contract says, Condor are currently not providing an acceptable level of service. We need to talk through things as a matter of urgency.’
- From its original home in Australia, Condor Liberation docked in the Philippines for four months, where she was fitted out to the ferry operators precise specifications, including extending the bridge
- It then took four weeks for her to make the 10,500 nautical mile journey to Southampton, sailing across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal and via the Mediterranean, before travelling up the Bay of Biscay and into the English Channel
- The vessel was met in Dorset by crowds eager to see her come into Poole Harbour
Speaking in the States earlier in the day, Senator Farnham told Members that he had previously asked Condor to move the dates of the maintenance work on the Commodore Clipper, which is currently in dry dock.
If it had not been for this maintenance work, the Clipper could have been brought in to cover for the Liberation, which suffered cancellations and delays over the weekend.
‘It was unfortunate in the extreme that the period of travel disruption over the weekend coincided with the Commodore Clipper being in dry dock,’ the minister said.
‘Despite Condor’s efforts, it is clear that the contingency measures and customer service levels left many customers inconvenienced and frustrated.
‘The current contingency plans are unacceptable, and I will be holding them to account over that.
‘I did try to urge Condor to exchange the schedule with the Goodwill so that it would have gone into dry dock now and the Clipper would have gone in October, but they said they were unable to do that because they had organised it a year ago.’
During the hearing in the States Assembly, Deputy Russell Labey called the Condor situation a ‘state of emergency’ and Deputy Judy Martin raised concerns about the safety of the Condor Liberation.
Responding to Deputy Martin, the minister said: ‘I am taking full responsibility for this and I am taking action. I have no concerns about the suitability and the safety of the Condor Liberation. To say the vessel is unsafe is simply untrue.’
He added: ‘I don’t want to be, but I am going to be hard on Condor because their contingency and customer services are simply unacceptable.’
