A small crowd of Islanders gathered to watch the vessel arrive in the Island on Tuesday afternoon.
- 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[/breakout]
It is currently taking part in sea trials on the cross-Channel route ahead of an open day on Sunday.
The vessel was in Guernsey waters for the first time on Monday.
The new multi-million-pound Condor 102 has been re-named Liberation to mark 70 years since the end of the Occupation of the Channel Islands.
The name was selected by a panel after more than 7,000 suggestions were submitted as part of a competition organised in conjunction with the Jersey Evening Post and Guernsey Press.
Condor welcomed its newest addition to the fleet on Boxing Day after the 102-metre trimaran sailed more than 10,000 nautical miles over 22 days from Cebu in the Philippines to its base in Poole.
Since then, work on the ship has been carried out by Trimline, a company which also installs interiors for multi-million-pound super-yachts, as well as ships owned by the Ministry of Defence.
The 40-strong team – helped by a workforce from original boat builders Austal – have been working around the clock to make sure they meet the deadline.
Islanders can explore the 102-metre trimaran at an open day on Sunday. Tickets, priced £2, are available here. Proceeds will be donated to Guernsey and Jersey Cheshire Homes.
AN octopus called Oscar has been chosen as the new Condor Ferries mascot following a design competition for pupils across Jersey and Guernsey.
The winning mascot was chosen from more than 1300 entries and designed by 11-year-old Caroline Carter from Guernsey, who won an iPad mini, £500 for her school and a trip on the new Condor Liberation boat for her and her class.
Six other finalists, three each from Jersey and Guernsey, also won an iPad. Freya Spybey from St Mary’s School won the Jersey Reception to Year 2 competition, Natalie Salter from FCJ won the Year 3 to Year 6 prize and Millie Foley from Le Rocquier won the secondary school prize.
Alicia Andrews, executive commercial director at Condor, said: ‘We were really impressed with both the quantity and quality of entries and I’d like to thank everyone who entered and congratulate our finalists and especially Caroline, who designed Oscar.
‘The judges chose Oscar the Octopus because he really stood out as a fantastic, friendly character and was really well designed. We were impressed that Caroline has used our new brand colours in her design and Oscar already feels like a part of our team, ready to welcome children on-board with a wave from one of his eight arms.’
