THE performance of DFDS in its first three months has been described as “positive” by the government – despite early disruption to sailing services and freight cancellations.
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel recently published DFDS’ first set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for cancellation and delays, in a letter to the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel.
While Deputy Morel described DFDS’ overall performance as “positive”, he highlighted the “exception” of freight disruption, with almost a quarter of MV Arrow’s sailings to St Malo cancelled and several other sailings delayed.
Levante Jet – DFDS’ fast passenger ferry which runs the Poole route – operated 52 of 52 scheduled sailings, with none of these described as having either a “moderate” or “material” delay.
Tarifa Jet – DFDS’ other fast passenger ferry which runs the St Malo route – operated 137 of 162 scheduled sailings, with eight of these leaving the Harbour with a “moderate” delay.
The vessel’s Jersey launch was pushed back by two weeks at the last minute following “technical issues” with a ramp which meant it had to remain in Portland for refit, with freight and passenger vessel Stena Vinga – leased by DFDS to run the Portsmouth route – operating the French route during that period.
Stena Vinga operated 26 sailings to St Malo with one of these moderately delayed departing, according to the data released by the government.
Of the 112 scheduled sailings by Stena Vinga and replacement vessel Cote d’Albatre to Portsmouth, 106 were operated, with four cancellations and three “moderate” delays, while Stena Vinga was used on two sailings to Guernsey that were not previously scheduled.
Freight vessel Arrow had the poorest performance of DFDS’ vessels in its first three months, the data revealed, operating 108 sailings out of a scheduled 110 trips to Portsmouth after two sailings were cancelled, and 16 sailings to St Malo out of a scheduled 20 (four cancellations). Arrow also saw six moderate and seven material delays on the Portsmouth route, and one moderate delay and six material delays on the St Malo service.
The metrics Deputy Morel shared related to delays at the time of departure. He said by August this would be updated to “enable measuring of delays by time of arrival”.
Deputy Morel argued that a concession agreement “enhances oversight and governance” of the operator “via a detailed regime of KPIs that DFDS is expected to satisfy”, compared to the previous operating agreement which was in place.
Meetings will be held on a quarterly basis to review the delivery of these KPIs, with the first meeting due to take place in August.
The minister said: “Replacement services offered in April have been included within the High Speed Craft (HSC) measurements to reflect the use of a contingency vessel on the St Malo route when the relevant HSC was unavailable. Similarly, the provision of a single Guernsey service in place of a Portsmouth rotation during May (to enable local residents to support the Murrati) has been treated as a replacement, rather than a cancellation and provision of a new service.”
Deputy Morel added: “With regard to the KPI of cancellations and delays, the performance is positive, with the exception of delays for RoRo (roll-on/roll-off) services.
“This reflects instances where DFDS have held back the departure time to enable loading of freight with the vessel making up time during its journey.
“This should be evidenced once data on arrival times is available, which, pleasingly, will show a more positive position.”
The JEP has asked the government for clarification on what is classed as a “moderate” and “material” delay.
