Statements reveal division on Channel Islands ferry decisions

Guernsey says it will be Brittany Ferries it signs a contract with, after Jersey's minister said only Condor Ferries was on the table.

During a statement to Jersey's States Assembly on Wednesday (13 November), Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel explained why it had not been possible for him to reach a decision yet on the winner of the ferry tender process.

He said both Condor and DFDS' bids failed for different reasons.

In the case of the former, the issues were the age of the fleet and the 'financial situation'.  Deputy Morel said he had repeatedly asked whether the deal would be signed by Brittany Ferries, Condor's majority shareholder.

He said he received confirmation a week last Friday:

"The CEO of BF has confirmed that any agreement would be signed with CF only as the operating company, and not with BF."

WATCH: Under-fire Jersey minister makes statement on ferry saga

This appears to have been a major sticking point for Jersey.

Yet Guernsey's Economic Development Committee president responded within hours to that statement.

"While we weren’t intending to supply details about what was a confidential tender process, given that Deputy Morel has publicly confirmed that DFDS’ bid was legally failed in Jersey I will confirm that it received a legal fail in the Guernsey scoring also. 

"This meant that, based on the islands’ jointly agreed Invitation to Tender document, the DFDS bid was disqualified from the process and could not be appointed as preferred bidder. Brittany Ferries’ bid passed all of the requirements in the tender and did not receive a disqualifying fail.

"I also need to confirm that it was Brittany Ferries that submitted the tender, with Condor named as a subcontractor. We are agreeing a Guernsey-only service with Brittany Ferries and it will be Brittany Ferries that signs it – along with Condor as its subsidiary."

Deputy Inder added: "Had the bid been from Condor as a standalone entity I doubted we would have been as positive about it as we are with the Brittany bid."

Bosses from Brittany ferries and DFDS will meet Jersey's government next week, with Jersey's Chief Minister promising the future operator will be announced during the last week of this month.

Lyndon Farnham said the new rapid tender process being deployed aimed to secure a fresh approach to growing passenger numbers, a new approach to freight pricing, significant investment in vessels and robust resilience and contingency plans.

"Ministers will ensure that whether the contract is awarded to Brittany Ferries or DFDS, we will have fully operational passenger and freight ferry services in place from March 2025 when the existing operating agreement terminates."