Dozens view berthing trials of ‘contingency’ cargo ship

The 163m-long ro-ro cargo vessel left the Danish port of Koge last week and arrived in Jersey on Friday to conduct a berthing trial, before doing the same in St Peter Port on Saturday.

Built in 2000, her carrying capacity is 11,530 gross tonnage and she sails under the flag of Denmark.

She was assisted during her trial in Guernsey by two Dorys, the pilot boat and the Sarnia harbour workboat, as well as a tug from the Ports of Jersey.

The trials in both islands were commissioned by Guernsey and Jersey’s governments as part of what the States said are 'ongoing testing of contingency plans'.

Scott Fusellier was watching the vessel arrive from the Castle Cornet breakwater with his son Jasper, 5.

He was impressed by the boat’s length.

‘It’s much bigger than all of Condor’s boats, it’s an impressive sight.’

He wondered whether the trial signified further problems on the horizon for Condor, which announced on Friday that it was facing a ‘temporary but challenging time’.

‘Everyone saw the issues with Condor when the Islander was bought, I think increasing competition is something that should be looked at.’

Fellow boat watcher Tony Jager said the Finlandia’s arrival could be enormous for the island.

‘It’s nice to see such a big boat, we’ve been getting less tourists travelling to France and the continent and we need something that will boost tourism.’

Another man said he hoped that the berthing trial would be a precursor for more ferry services coming to the island.

‘I used to work for Ferryspeed and we always knew about issues Condor was having,’ he said.

‘Ferryspeed actually looked at getting a ferry but were always told “no” because of how it might impact Condor.

‘We had multiple ferry companies serving the island in the 1980s, like Sealink and British Channel Island Ferries, and it kept prices down. It would be good to see that again.’