Ferry passengers delayed nine hours on St Malo run
Monday 18th July 2011, 2:58PM BST.
Passengers had a nightmare crossing from St Malo
FERRY passengers suffered a nightmare crossing from St Malo yesterday – when the trip took an extra nine hours because of bad weather and a steering problem.
The trip normally lasts about an hour but hundreds of Islanders due to arrive at 12.30 pm were stuck on the ferry until 9.50 pm after the Condor Rapide was forced to divert to Guernsey before arriving in Jersey.
A spokesman for the ferry firm today said that the boat had suffered steering problems and had been forced to change its docking order because of the spring tides when it was already running late.
He also said that the bad weather, including force seven gale force winds, had been a huge factor in causing the delay.
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the ‘FRIGHT of the CONDOR’… IT JUST GOES on and on and on… AND NOBODY CARES… because they’ve got the monopoly on sea travel
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Is it really news that condor ran late late, print a story when/IF condor actually arrive on time, that would be more of a shocker.
tomorrows top story “water is wet”
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Yes the weather can have that affect on shipping but 9 hours is taking the p.
Can we get rid of condor now or let some competition in on the act ?
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When are Condor gonna be told to sort themselves out or leave!
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Just to be pedantic, but Force 7 is not a gale as per the report. If my car were as unreliable as these vessels then I’d have got rid by now. The Rapide formerly served in the Australian Navy so it’s fair to assume the ship is knackered! Time to seriously look at alternatives to these Incat designed ferries.
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This was obscene. They were forced to sail to Guernsey in terrible weather which made passengers sick and anxious and then they sailed back again. There was no hot food or free drinks and the apology was poor. Its just a shame the Economic Development department cannot grow any proper teeth and do something about this joke of a service.
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John L,
Just thank god Condor aren’t in the airline business.
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The amount of hours on the machinery must be incredible, it´s hardly suprising they are experiencing problems. I realise the gear will all be commercial spec but that considered, it´s still a pounding.
Knowing it would be so tight, the officers will have realised the only way to make it on time is to hammer the bloody thing. The weather / tidal situation just adding to the misery.
I feel for the staff aboard these vessels to be honest. We´ve all seen the tradegy caused when they rush to meet the timetable – the loss of a life. I think a 9 hour delay, compared, is absolutely nothing.
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Will we ever have a decent ferry service? is it too much to ask?
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So why don’t you run a story everytime a plane is late/delayed/cancelled? Seem’s like a bit of a witch hunt if you ask me.
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davejsy……I think if a plane journey was meant to take just over an hour but took 9 hours instead it would be in the news.
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If the boat had to spend 5 hours in Guernsey why not let them disembark? Even the car passengers would have had time to drive off and come back.
The lack of hot food would be understandable if the boat was stuck in the bay BUT as it was in Guernsey harbour there is no excuse.
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Another bit of made up news here I am afraid. Conditions were challenging yesterday, I travelled back from Herm on the Travel Trident which was bumping about. Our conecting flight from Guernsey was half an hour late and a bit bumpy as well.
Back to Condor, they had a problem affecting the operation of their boat, and in the prevailing conditions, they could have got into difficuties in the harbour, which thanks to the design, has tidal access problems.
For those who continually slag off Condor, I was interested in the report in the JEP a few weeks ago which said that P & O (Formerly Townsend Thorisen, whose ferries European Gateway and Herald of Free Enterpries both tiped over with significant loss of life) say that they were not interested in the CI route. If Condor leave, we could end up with a very limited service.
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Funny how only one cancelled ferry was mentioned in this report when there was about 6 other ferries out of Jersey cancelled as well. Not to mention the cancelled ferries that were the replacements for the cancelled ferries.
The main problem suffered was the lack of information provided by Condor. They can’t control the weather but the can keep passengers fully informed. Receiving the texts & follow-up phone calls to advise you of the replacement ferry time & check-in was great but when you got there, the ferry was cancelled!
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I was booked on the 18.30 sailing from St Malo to Jersey on Sunday evening. Now, while riding down to St malo ,I received a text to say the sailing had been put back to 20.30 pm. Ok I thought, no problem. But then, while at the check in, already put through to the boarding side of things, they again put the sailing back to 21.45!
Why can they not just give us one definitive time, so we can make plans.
I appreciate they have problems, but it would be nice to be better informed.
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We were sent to Guernsey once apparently due to the tide being wrong. DUH!!!!! check the tide timetable. They are out a year in advance and are accurate. If the Condor team can’t read one of these then maybe they shouldn’t be operating.
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Spring tides? it’s well into summer, how long does spring last at sea?
Lack of information is the single biggest complaint with both sea and air travel. how often are you looking at flight arrivals when the flight you are looking at has been airborne for 30 mins and the passenger you plan to collect told you about a delay before they boarded which is still not evident on the site, wouldn’t last pi**ing time in the real world.
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warrenj……I can’t understand why you mentionsd two ferry disasters,the European Gateway which was in collision with another ship,and the Herald of Free Enterpries which left harbour with front loading doors open.What has this got to do with Condors miserable service and excessive fares for Channel Islandes.
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@17 How long does spring last at sea?
Excellent!
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Phyllis Stein (17) Spring tides? it’s well into summer, how long does spring last at sea?
Phyllis, you clearly do not understand the lunar cycle.
In very general terms both the sun and moon align every 14 days. They both exert a gravitational pull on planet earth (where we live most of the time) which is manifested in tidal movements. Hence every 14 days, in sympathy with the increased gravitational pull, we get a higher tide, a ‘spring tide’. Throw in a few extra planets and the said ‘spring tide’ is variable in height. Go beyond that and you are into astrophysics, hence the tide times tables. Hope that helps?
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New tourism slogan:
‘Spring comes twice a month in Jersey’
Just for you, Phyllis!
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Re # 17, a Spring Tide has nothing to do with the seasons !!!!
Access into St Helier harbour impacts significantly on operations, but little is said in the States about it.
Anyway, I thought Condor’s licence was about to be revoked, so those in power must have a willing alternative operator lined up !!! (Not P & O !)
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I too together with a friend were booked on the 18.30 from St.Malo – OK the conditions were very bad but Condor got us back to Jersey although a bit late. The ferry service cannot be blamed for bad weather but many refuse to take this or the pounding they take into account. I was aware that there were a number of bad tempered passengers but thats life when one travels. The Guernsey and UK vehicles were turned back and clearly the ferry service had safety in mind.
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If it is not one thing, it is an other, what a bl**dy outfit!
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I suspect 17. was taking the mick.
WarrenJ totally agree.
If this is such an easy route to operate why are the operators not forming a line to have a shot?
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I was on the ferry on sunday and although it was bad weather we did arrive in at 6pm not 9.50pm – unless this report is about is another ferry which came in later? on our ferry, condor gave sandwiches – if you asked them, and also paid some money back but again offered nothing – we had to ask them! poor form.
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travelled over on sunday for a job interview with my daughters and grandaughter(10 months old) and on the return which fortunately was running we were told we had to carry the sleeping baby in her buggy up to the top deck.Fortunately after reading the riot act about their general
awfulness(I come from the Isle Of Wight) they came to find us in the childrens playarea and seated us behind the customer services desk.
I will not be accepting the job as I can’t stomache their service
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Condor Ferries. If you don’t like it, there’s probably a boat in the morning.
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Can we have brittany ferries please? …please? nice big ship with lots of things to do/ …please?? how about the superfast ferries that operate in greece and scotland to holland, tradional ship with high speed status, great ferries.
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Guernsey have fought tooth and nail to maintain the state run Aurigny service – why don’t we do the same and nationalise the ferries?
Admittedly there’d be the initial outlay of buying a boat that actually can still sail when the sea gets choppy but they’d make the money back – also ticket prices could be fixed and any increases would have to be regulated by the government.
At the moment, anyone who wants to get off the island by sea is at the mercy of a single company, does anyone else find that a touch worrying?
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hit them where it hurts – stop travelling with them (i.e. don’t go – France is rubbish anyway, rubbish food, xenophobic people etc)
no but really – hit them where it hurts like this:
- every late departure >3 hours over schedule then a 25% refund, >6 hours a 35% refund, >24 hours a 50% refund, cancellation 125% refund.
- any late departure over 3 hours entitles all ticketholders to cancel with 100% refund.
Then, they would suffer increased administration and insurance costs, losses etc that might motivate them to run planned maintenance more thoroughly, and a real financial threat by which they would be motivated to operate on time.
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Complain, complain, you ungrateful lot!
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Nicki B
No, flights would never be delayed that long. They just cancel them instead, leaving everyone up the creek with out a paddle. No doubt you’d much prefer that though.
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What a surprise, every Condor sailing this evening is late. One of the reason given is large loads. Hello…. it’s the first day of the holidays I would expect the thing to be full.
Condor Exp Guernsey Elizabeth (St. Helier) 14:45 15:35A
Condor Rap Poole/Gsy Elizabeth (St. Helier) 18:40 19:20E
Condor Exp St. Malo Elizabeth (St. Helier) 18:45 20:05E
Sorry the slow boat is expected 10 min early
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Delta
re your comment above? Would we really want this government to run a ferry service and regulate the fares after what they are doing with SS and GST.
Sinking ship springs to mind
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Re- “seagoing’s” comments- having travelled on quite a few of the Superfast ferries, yes they are brilliant, not catamarans, built like traditional ferries, but a fast and smooth ride. Having been many times on fast ferries to Isle of Man, Ireland, amongst others, and never a breakdown. The operators have ferries in reserve and each ferry is withdrawn from service in turn, and full and thorough mechanical servicing is carried out. Condor are not helping the Jersey tourist trade when people are arriving and departing much later than the scheduled times. Perhaps they should wind up the elastic bands which they call engines and we may get there and back quicker!!!!
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To be fair to Condor, I have found little to complain about their basic service despite being a regular traveller,(admittedly I rarely travel to England).
The main problem is Jersey’s shallow water harbour. We need a deep water harbour to accomodate modern ships.
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Friday 22nd July
travelled to St. Malo with Condor outgoing journey
was fine but we were almost 3 hours late returning
That was bad enough but the cavalier attitude of the captain was the most annoying part. When he made the announcements concerning the delay he gave the impression that he wasn’t in the least bit bothered.This was our last night in Jersey and if it wasn’t for our friends Ellen &Terry it could have been spoiled.
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