CONDOR has had to alter its half-term sailing schedule between the Channel Islands and the UK after one of its freight vessels was damaged in a shipyard.
Commodore Goodwill, which is undergoing a month-long biennial check in Spain, sustained damage to a propeller and drive shaft while it was in a dry dock and will return to service later than scheduled.
The unplanned repairs mean that the company is having to continue operating Commodore Clipper, its freight and passenger ship, on Goodwill’s overnight schedule. Extra high-speed sailings are being put on between Poole, Jersey and Guernsey to try to accommodate passengers originally booked to travel on Clipper.
John Napton, Condor’s chief executive, said: ‘Every year we carefully plan our maintenance programme to ensure continuity of freight and passenger services to the [Channel] Islands, so the problems caused by the shipyard are infuriating. The damaged equipment has now had to be sent to Scandinavia, so the ship will unavoidably return to service later than planned.
‘We do not want to make these changes and are aware of the seasonal weather but are keeping Clipper on the nightly schedule to maximise the volume of lifeline freight supplies into the islands in the mornings.’
He added: ‘The autumn half term is a busy travel period and we recognise its importance in the calendar, so through these measures we are aiming to minimise disruption to everyone. We will be proactively notifying passengers over the next few days who are booked to travel on Clipper and transferring them to alternative sailings.’
