The Liberation, which made its maiden commercial crossing on Friday, landed heavily against the fender while manoeuvring in strong winds.
Today’s onward crossing to Jersey has been cancelled and the £50 million vessel is due to undergo repairs in Poole.
In a statement, Fran Collins, executive director of operations at Condor Ferries, said: ‘On arrival in St Peter Port, Condor Liberation attempted to dock on berth two but high winds prevented this, so the decision was taken to change to berth one.’
‘While manoeuvring onto berth one in strong winds, the ferry landed heavily against a fender, causing minor damage to the protective belting.
‘As a result of this, Condor Liberation will return to Poole for repairs, which are expected to take only a couple of days.
‘In the meantime, Commodore Clipper will provide passenger services between the UK and the Channel Islands.
‘All affected passengers are being advised of the changes to their sailings.’
The ferry operator unveiled Condor Liberation last weekend when more than 3,000 Islanders took up the opportunity to go on a tour of the newest addition to their fleet.
Condor also made the headlines this week when they unveiled a new safety information rap video which is being shown on board the new Condor Liberation.
- Condor Liberation is the companys 16th passenger vessel since it was founded in 1964
- It has a service speed of 35 knots (about 40 mph), which is faster than a great white shark, and its engines have the equivalent power of 50 formula one cars
- There are 33 staff working on the ship on each sailing
- On its maiden voyage from Cebu in the Philippines to Poole, Condor Liberation sailed more than 10,000 nautical miles across the Indian Ocean and along the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea over 22 days
- Each year Condor Ferries carries more than one million passengers and 200,000 passenger vehicles
