- Police called to Poole ferry terminal to deal with a group of irate travellers
- Scenes at Elizabeth Terminal too as anger over delays and cancellations boiled over
- Passengers criticise ferry operator for its appalling handling of weekend disruption – read their views below
- Comment – read what the JEP thinks below
POLICE were called to Poole ferry terminal yesterday to deal with a group of irate travellers due to sail to Jersey as anger over delays and cancellations boiled over.
There were also angry scenes at Elizabeth Terminal and in Guernsey passengers forced to stand in long queues demanded answers.
Many took to social media to voice their frustration and criticise the ferry operator.
The cause of their anger was the announcement that sailings of the Liberation had been cancelled or disrupted because of technical problems at a time when the Clipper was on dry dock.
Since the introduction of the Liberation, these are the only two ferries scheduled to operate on the northern route from Jersey to the UK.
The protest followed a statement on Friday from Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham who, along with his Guernsey counterpart, has called for an urgent review of the service-level agreement between the States and Condor.
He has since said that Condor fleet is ‘clearly not up for the job’.
Meanwhile, an online petition – which has so far been signed by 1,500 people – has been launched calling for a second shipping company to be introduced.
Today Condor defended the Liberation and apologised for the difficulties passengers faced this weekend.
Dorset police responded after some passengers in Poole prevented other travellers from boarding the ship after more than 70 vehicles with up to 250 passengers were not allowed on board at the last minute yesterday morning.
A further 69 vehicles were prevented from boarding because of the disruption.
In Jersey, queues of frustrated passengers formed outside the terminal building on Saturday as they attempted to seek information from the operator after their phone calls were left unanswered.
The latest delays – which occurred after a fault was discovered in the exhaust system of the Liberation – prompted Senator Farnham to call for urgent action to be taken to solve the company’s ‘unacceptable’ fleet and customer service.
He told the JEP that the shipping company was currently ‘not up for the job’ and that the purchase of the £50 million Liberation – which has been beleaguered by problems since it came into service in March – had been a ‘mistake’.
Following the disruption, Senator Farnham says he will today speak with Condor’s chairman ahead of an immediate review by his department into the services provided by the company.
He said: ‘I think the Channel Islands deserve far better than they are getting right now.
‘Whilst I understand that you can’t account for bad weather and you can’t account for or predict mechanical failure or technical problems, what I will not accept is the way that Condor are dealing with it.
‘The structure is not in place to provide the customer service that is needed.
‘It is completely unacceptable to be sending customers text messages with phone numbers that are not getting answered.
‘Looking at the bigger problem, the Condor fleet is clearly not up for the job.
‘The contingency plans, whatever they may be, all rely on utilising other ships.
‘Well, of course, other ships are in use on other routes.
‘The fact that the Liberation was going to be introduced with more capacity – one ship replacing two ships – was clearly a mistake.’
The delays have also prompted Guernsey Deputy Kevin Stewart, chairman of the External Transport Group, to publicly criticise the operator for the service, which he called ‘wholly unacceptable for Guernsey’s leisure and business customers’.
Asked whether a second shipping operator should be introduced to the Island, Senator Farnham said: ‘Condor do not have a monopoly.
‘Any shipping operator could approach Jersey, but unfortunately shipping operators are not queueing up to operate on our routes.
‘The contract with Condor allows for a full and comprehensive service review to be completed by 2017 but I am minded to start that review immediately and not wait until 2017, so that’s something I am going to instigate very quickly.
He added that he hoped Condor would consider introducing a conventional fast ferry.
He said: ‘I would like to see a fast ferry running in the day and a fast ferry running at night.
‘These fast ferries can cross the Channel at a very good speed and they tend to be more reliable as they can go in a much wider range of weather.’
Meanwhile, Steve Champion-Smith, the executive director of freight for Condor Ferries, was today due to speak at the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce September lunch on the subject of keeping Guernsey connected and supplied.
Today, Alicia Andrews, executive commercial director at Condor, defended the Liberation.
She said: ‘We totally understand that the problems the Liberation has suffered this weekend have been inconvenient, but the ship has generally been very reliable. 97 per cent per cent of permitted sailings have gone ahead and, barring the incident in Guernsey, this is only the second time that the boat has been cancelled for technical reasons.
‘We have room to improve on our record of on-time sailings but we are working on that really, really hard.
‘We believe it is an excellent ship for this route.
‘We understand how difficult this weekend has been for customers.
‘We have called on every possible staff member we could do to facilitate passengers’ calls and concerns.
‘We are a relatively small team and it is very hard to ensure that every call that comes in is answered and I know that some people were not being allowed into the calling queue.
‘It’s very difficult to meet peoples’ full expectations in terms of communication, but we have made a significant improvement from our position earlier in the year.’
PASSENGERS have spoken of Condor Ferries’ ‘appalling’ handling of this weekend’s sailing disruption, which they say left tourists and Islanders confused and frustrated.
Calls have been made for an instant review of the service, which has been blighted by repeated technical problems this year.
Queues of people waited at the Harbour on Saturday in an attempt to seek information about delayed sailings after they could not get through on the ferry company’s telephone helpline.
‘We received a message on Friday morning saying it had been cancelled, but when we gave them a ring straightaway we only got through to an answerphone.
‘We have kept having that problem – it’s been a bit of an nightmare.
‘I’m a joiner and I’m going to have two days’ lost earnings and get back very early in the morning.
‘We came over to see our two sons, and this has definitely added a sour note to our trip.’
Retired Islander Margaret Le Sueur called the lack of service at the terminal ‘appalling’ after she arrived to book a holiday.
‘People who are here won’t come back to Jersey because of this,’ she added. ‘Someone needs to do something about it – it’s really bad.
‘We’ve tried phoning and we can’t get through and I’m now standing here wasting my time trying to get on a boat.
‘They need to get a new boat – something decent that actually works.
‘We all pay our money to the States so I think they need to intervene.’
Visitor Toby Reakes’s journey to Poole was cancelled on Saturday night.
He said: ‘To have no staff here is crazy. I came down because when I tried to phone it was just engaged, so it was a waste of time.
‘Ryanair often have problems in the UK, but at least they put staff on to try to sort it out.
‘I think the States need to review Condor’s licence.
‘They would never get away with this in the UK. If they were a train operator in the UK, there would be serious consideration as to whether their licence would be reviewed.
‘I think they should have P&O or someone else in, because this is just terrible for tourism.
‘If they had competition, I don’t think they would be acting in this way.’
On Saturday Christopher Sugden (19), a student at Winchester University, said he was unsure if he would arrive in time for a Monday morning lecture because of the delays.
He said: ‘I’m meant to be in a lecture on Monday, but whether that will happen now I’m not sure – it really depends if I can go on Sunday or not.
‘It’s unexpected, but these things happen. If it’s an exhaust fault, then it’s mechanical and they can only fix it as fast as they can.’
Stuart Shepherd (61), was due to sail from Poole to Jersey on Saturday, but was delayed until Sunday morning.
He slept in his car at Poole Harbour and believes that Condor Ferries should have offered meal vouchers to those who were stranded.
He was returning to the Island after dropping his son to university and enjoying a two-week holiday in the UK with his wife.
Mr Shepherd said: ‘Politicians in Guernsey and Jersey should say to Condor “that’s it, that’s enough, you’re out”.
‘That’s what they should do, they should get them out. They’re doing no good for Jersey or Guernsey.
‘You get here and don’t know if you’re going to be able to get back.
‘Or you get to England and don’t know if you can get back to Jersey.
‘It was diabolical. Condor weren’t forthcoming with information.
‘The company is doing nothing for Jersey tourism.
‘I’m absolutely disgusted with them.
‘Jersey and Guernsey need to get together and get them out.’
IT would be easy this morning to put the boot into a wounded and bloodied Condor.
The ferry company has had the weekend from hell as pent-up frustration spilled over into anger when the announcement that technical problems with the Liberation, coupled with the Clipper being in dry dock, led to disruption on routes to the UK and France.
An avalanche of complaints voiced on social media over the past 72 hours was extraordinary, even for a company which has been a popular punch bag for several years.
There are in Jersey a number of firms and organisations which are routinely vilified with and without justification, but over the weekend Condor was at the heart of a storm of its own making.
Police were called in Poole as passengers made their feelings clear after being told the overbooked Liberation was leaving without them.
In Jersey, those waiting in long queues at Elizabeth Terminal spoke of very poor communication and a lack of information.
It was the same story in Guernsey.
As reported on Friday, Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham has called for an urgent review of the service agreement between the States and Condor.
Over the weekend, he said that the Channel Islands ‘deserved far better than they are getting right now’ and that the way Condor was dealing with the situation was ‘unacceptable’.
Whether a failure of the States or Condor – or both – the inadequacy of current contingency plans for problems with a one-fast-ferry strategy has been laid bare.
What people really want is an affordable ferry service which runs to schedule.
History has shown that such apparently simple demands are not as easy to achieve as they might be.
Weather and mechanical problems have played havoc with timings.
And while brief spells of competition on the southern route have reduced prices, no one has created a sustainable rival business.
Condor have invested £50 million in the ill-fated Liberation and shown a commitment to the route, but ministers in both islands must now work together constructively to find a solution before efforts to re-energise the tourism industry are derailed.
There will be no easy answers, but Senator Farnham should now follow through with the expectation he has created for change.
This storm will pass, but when it does he must not let up on making the unacceptable acceptable.
A failure to act now will leave Islanders feeling let down and in the dark – again.
