DANISH shipping giant DFDS believes a Jersey-only ferry service is “viable” due to the Island having the lion’s share of tourists and freight in the Channel Islands.
The firm also revealed to the JEP that a high-speed ferry and freight-only vessel form part of their proposal for the new Jersey contract. A joint tender process between Jersey and Guernsey to decide who would run ferry services in the Channel Islands for the next 15 years broke down recently when Sarnian politicians announced their preference for Brittany Ferries, the owner of current operator Condor Ferries. Representatives from DFDS have been visiting the Island in the past few days for final negotiations regarding the new Jersey-only tender.
Filip Hermann, vice-president and head of the business unit for Channel and Baltics, said most of the process had been “formal” with “very few negotiations”.
He said: “Jersey still makes up the largest share of tourist and freight, so we believe that a Jersey-only service is still viable.”
The 15-year contract “fits very well with our strategy and how we usually work with our partners – so it’s a very good fit with our strategy and vision”, he said.
Mr Hermann added: “We also see quite a good match and overlap with our existing operations and fleet. That’s everything from a high-speed craft to, for example, the vessels on our route on Dieppe-Newhaven and the relationship we have with the SMPAT [a French public body that manages the route, which is operated by DFDS].
“So there are, on the fleet side and operation side, quite some synergies for us.”
Mr Hermann dismissed as “untrue” comments made in the States of Guernsey that the Danish firm asked for a unilateral right to change prices and timetables, meaning it received a “mandatory legal fail”.
“To be clear, we did not include our unilateral right to change prices and schedule as we saw fit,” he said.
“We would like to secure that we can provide the superior services to the Islanders, but also that we can make investments of millions of pounds in the fleet in the future.”
He claimed what appeared in the press was only part of the picture.
Mr Hermann did not comment further on the content of their bid, two days before they are due to submit it to Jersey’s government.
DFDS had not yet received feedback from Guernsey, he said, though he was expecting it “later this month”.
While he did not name the specific vessels the company would plan to use in Jersey, Mr Hermann said the bid included a high-speed craft as well as a passenger roll-on roll-off ferry and a dedicated freight vessel.
These are not the same vessels as the ones that ran berthing trials earlier in the year, he stressed, adding that these were done to test their contingency plans for the Island.
Asked whether he had been left with a good impression following the ferry tender process, he said: “No. But it’s a very, very important tender for the islands, and we respect that and we understand that, and if that takes a bit longer than we had hoped, then it’s probably because of that.
“And we of course respect that, but we also do hope that we get a decision soon.”
Mr Hermann added that he had “a high respect for all the people we have met” in Jersey and Guernsey.
