Condor Ferries, a subsidiary of Brittany Ferries, operates a year-round service linking England, Guernsey, Jersey and Saint-Malo.
Although Guernsey has renewed its confidence in Condor Ferries for fifteen years, the Jersey government has still not made a decision.
In Jersey, two final candidates remained in the running as part of the call for tenders: Brittany Ferries (Finistère) and the Danish maritime transport giant, DFDS.
On Wednesday November 6, 2024, Kirsten Morel, Jersey Minister for Economic Development, told the press that her government was proposing to extend the current Condor operating contract by seven months, until October 2025.
Surprise and disappointment
“The Jersey Government is considering re-tendering and has requested a short-term extension to our current operating agreement, Brittany Ferries is both surprised and disappointed,” reacts Christophe Mathieu, general manager of Brittany Ferries and Condor Ferries, in a press release.
Over the past nine months, Brittany Ferries has invested “considerable resources in the tender process, providing extensive information to help the Jersey Government make a decision. We firmly believe that this information is complete and sufficient to conclude the existing process,” continues the director of the Breton company.
Request for clarification
Brittany Ferries asks “clarifications on the extension request, as well as precise details on the new call for tenders reserved for Jersey. »
Brittany Ferries has also written to both governments seeking clarification on key aspects of the current procedure “And this, urgently. »
For his part, DFDS vice-president Filip Werne Hermann told the BBC: “We need to understand on what terms the short-term deal was offered to Condor before DFDS makes any further comments. »
