This morning the company told passengers that the Liberation had developed an electrical fault with the engine control unit on its forward main engine yesterday evening.
The fault, which means that the vessel is operating on slightly reduced power during today’s service, was discovered as the ship sailed from Guernsey to Poole.
Revealing the latest issue via its online sailing updates page, Condor said that its engineering team continued to work on the problem.
However, shortly after the initial announcement, the company added: ‘Regrettably it has now been necessary to stop the engine entirely due to ongoing electrical issues with the engine control unit.’
The company went on to cancel today’s Guernsey to Jersey leg of the Poole to Channel Islands route because of a combination of the slower operating speed and tidal conditions.
As they are uncertain how long the engine control unit will take to repair, Condor have this afternoon announced changes to Thursday’s sailings.
Condor Liberation is being sailed to Guernsey and Condor Rapide will now be providing tomorrow’s inter-Island services.
However, Condor have announced that as a result of the revised schedule, daytrips from Jersey to St Malo, and daytrips from Poole are being cancelled tomorrow.
The Liberation has faced a number of setbacks since taking to Channel Island waters at the end of last month.
Before this morning’s announcement, engineers had to deal with a different engine fault which meant that Monday’s sailings between Poole and the Channel Islands were delayed by more than four hours.
The delay was caused when the ship’s on-board safety system restricted the vessel’s top speed after a valve broke.
Specialist engineers were working on the damage in the early hours of yesterday to ensure that the ship was able to sail in the afternoon and went on to fix the problem.
The repairs caused the Liberation to be delayed, leaving the UK by about half an hour, shortly after 2 pm.
Announcing the changes to Thursday’s schedules, Alicia Andrews, Condor Ferries’ commercial executive director, said: ‘Given the uncertainty regarding the repair time with the engine control unit on Condor Liberation, we have already taken the decision to re-?plan tomorrow’s sailing times.
‘This will involve sailing Condor Liberation to Guernsey, with Condor Rapide providing connecting services inter-?Island to ensure all customers can reach their destination.
‘Daytrips from Jersey to St Malo, and daytrips from Poole have been cancelled as a result of the revised schedule.
‘We have adjusted sailing times to minimise disruption to customers.
‘Freight services are operating as normal as Commodore Goodwill and Commodore Clipper are unaffected.
‘All affected customers are being contacted and full details of the revised schedule is also on our website.
Again, we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience and reassure them that we are doing all we can to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.’
- 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
The engine problems prompted a number of JEP readers to comment online about Liberation’s issues.
Writing on the newspaper’s website, Jez Strickland said: ‘When Condor’s licence agreement expires the States should run the ferry service.
‘It would run closer to cost with just enough income to cover accidents caused by adverse weather conditions, or incompetence, and we would enjoy cheaper fares.
‘The minister would be directly responsible for any lack of a plan B.’
And a reader posting under the name JKO, added: ‘If the Express has been sold, what ship will step in in future when the Liberation has a mishap?’
However, others defended the company over the teething problems of their new vessel.
Alfie Marsh wrote on the JEP’s Facebook page: ‘It’s a new ship, give them a chance. Everyone moans, let’s hear some praise and encouragement and positive thinking for once.’
The ship, which was bought for £50 million from Australian manufacturer Austal, has been plagued by problems since it began commercial operations last month. As well as suffering engine problems, the vessel hit a fender in Guernsey Harbour at the end of March, putting the boat out of action for more than a week.
From Chip Scott.
TO many Islanders, the name of the new Condor vessel, Liberation, is evocative.
Perhaps it could also have been taken (albeit initially) as an encouraging metaphor for the new ferry service to the islands that Condor have been trumpeting for months.
However, it occurred to me that the new ship could have had a number of names over the last week or so…
On Saturday 28 March, as she was manoeuvring with difficulty in St Peter Port, she could have been called the Condor Palpitation, and when she hit the quay, this might have changed to Condor Consternation.
Thereafter, as passengers waited several hours for news, she was Condor Obfuscation, which then became the Condor Irritation.
Condor Indignation was the next name, swiftly followed by Condor Altercation, before the police were called. Shortly thereafter she became the Condor Cancellation and after that the Condor Aggravation. She’s had that one for a few days now.
When she has finally been repaired, and as there are now wind restrictions imposed on her when operating in St Peter Port maybe for a while she should be the Condor Limitation.
Perhaps if we are kinder, she should be named Condor On Probation for a few months before she becomes either the Condor Aberration, Condor Condemnation, Condor Expiration or, dare I say it, even perhaps the Condor Acclamation or Condor Adoration.
Meanwhile Condor should keep their paint brushes out. We shall see.
