Condor’s new ferry Islander finally arrives
CONDOR’S newest ferry has safely arrived in Guernsey for the first time, after three months of sailing across the world.
The MV Condor Islander, part-funded by the States, arrived in a rainy St Peter Port harbour for the first time just before 10.30am. A tug was used to help with the ferry’s first time docking, but it took nearly 20 minutes from when it passed the St Peter Port pierheads until it switched its engines off.
Islander had been undergoing engineering work in Santander in Spain since early June, and arrived off the west coast of Guernsey on Saturday night, where it was shown on the marine tracker undertaking manoeuvres on Sunday.
It departed Guernsey again just before 2pm yesterday and arrived safely into St Helier later in the afternoon.
It will be undergoing berthing trials in Jersey, St Malo and Portsmouth over the next few days, with the vessel set to enter into service in October following a period of internal refurbishment in Poole.
This will include the installation of a duty-free shop, changes to overnight cabin configurations and refreshing of passenger lounges.
A Condor spokesman said that the inclement weather at the time of the vessel’s arrival had provided a good test of the company’s crews and procedures, while also confirming that its full winter timetable would be in place by the end of August.
‘We are obviously delighted to see the Islander arrive in the islands,’ he added.
Condor Islander is a conventional passenger and freight roll-on, roll-off vessel, which is 124.9m long and capable of carrying up to 400 passengers, as well as freight.
