Condor moments just kept on coming

A CATALOGUE of problems caused Condor Express passengers to arrive in Poole over five hours late and on half power early on Tuesday morning.

Condor Express was due to depart Guernsey at 7.40pm on Monday but did not leave until 10.30pm.

A spokesman for Condor confirmed the ferry had started the day on just three of its four engines and said passengers had been informed of the likely slow service.

The ferry suffered more bad luck mid-morning involving a stray fishing buoy and rope. Further delays were caused as divers were called in at St Peter Port to retrieve debris. Computerised engine alerts forced the crew to close down another engine so the boat ran on half power towards Poole. The service, which is scheduled to take two hours 40 minutes, arrived more than five hours late at 3.30am accompanied by two tugboats.

Condor general manager Yan Milner apologised for any inconvenience.

'As soon as the crew alerted us to the problems, we sent messages to passengers and by the evening most people knew they would be substantially late reaching Poole before they had checked in, although it may have been of little comfort for the affected passengers.'

Condor Express is not due to sail for three days, during which time the company hopes to fix the problem.

'Engineers are working hard to make sure we can carry the Easter weekend travellers as scheduled,' he said.