Commodore Clipper freight-only again after Covid outbreak
CONDOR has had to switch the Commodore Clipper to freight-only sailings for the second time this month, after another Covid outbreak among the crew.
At the start of February the vessel had to operate freight- only for four days, after an outbreak.
The latest outbreak will affect sailings for the next two days, as the vessel is below the minimum legal number of crew to be able to run a passenger service.
Condor Ferries’ CEO John Napton said the company was working hard to mitigate the effects and said the situation was frustrating for all involved.
‘We are doing absolutely everything we can to minimise the disruption,’ he said.
‘The contingencies we introduced two years ago, which include the use of standby crew, have worked really well, but even that measure has now been impacted by the increased infections of the Omicron variant.
‘We also identified an alternative freight vessel this week to provide cover, but unfortunately a technical issue means it is unavailable for the next two weeks.’
The departures affected are from Portsmouth to Jersey and Guernsey today and tomorrow. High-speed sailings are available from Poole to accommodate affected passengers, while essential food supplies from Portsmouth will remain unaffected.
Mr Napton confirmed that the majority of crew affected are non-symptomatic but the UK’s removal of self-isolation rules will only apply in March and the ferry industry in general was struggling for crew due to quarantine rules and high rates of infection.
‘We apologise to passengers affected but we wanted to act decisively and clearly as soon as the risk to the sailings had been highlighted,’ he said.
‘These actions also demonstrate our long term commitment to maintaining the essential food and medical supply chain to the islands.’
Guernsey is set to abolish mandatory self-isolation from Thursday, but even after that all positive cases will still be requested to stay at home for 10 days, with early release if they are asymptomatic and LFT negative from day five and day six.
Case numbers have been steadily rising locally over the last week, back up over 1,000 yesterday at 1,015, with 94 new cases identified yesterday.
