Fears Condor may ask for more money a sticking point for Jersey

Condor’s majority shareholder, Brittany Ferries, was recently awarded preferred bidder status to run a Guernsey-only service, after a single Channel Islands tender process broke down in disagreement.

Jersey has started a new tender process and the issue dominated question time in its States Assembly yesterday.

‘It’s very, very important that Jersey has a ferry service it can rely on,’ said Economic Development minister Kirsten Morel.

‘I am really concerned about the idea that we sign up to a ferry service that in just two or three years’ time may ask for further funding to bail it out, as has been given to me in the past 12 months – a direct request for funding to bail a company out.

‘That is what I am trying to avoid – to me that is a significant impact, not just on the cost of living but on the cost to taxpayers. I also worry about the amount of money in ticket prices which is going to pay interest instead of being reinvested in the fleet.’

As Deputy Morel faced a series of tough questions about the tender process and claims about Condor’s finances, former Treasury minister Philip Ozouf, pictured, asked why more use could not be made of parliamentary privilege to reveal the difficulties Jersey was facing.

‘The minister is trying, as no doubt are legal officers and the minister’s advisers, to deal with what is known to be a debt pile and a financially unsustainable situation, but it can’t be spelt out,’ said Deputy Ozouf.

‘Why can’t the facts be spelt out in terms that the public can understand, to be reassured that the minister is making the right decisions or not?’

Deputy Morel then revealed that Condor had approached him asking for financial support totalling tens of millions of pounds late last year and millions more just a few weeks ago.

‘Last December, I received a request from the ferry company, quite simply for £40m. to ensure they could continue to operate services and, of that £40m., £10m. was apparently urgent,’ he said.

‘This followed a previous request for a guarantee of £80m. to underwrite the services.

‘I wrote to the company as recently as 23 September [2024] asking for certainty around their ability to continue the contract until the end of March in the event they did not win the contract.

‘The response at the time effectively asked for money to guarantee the continuation of the services – a sum of many millions of pounds to continue those services until the end of March.

‘That is another matter on my mind.

‘They are currently contracted to continue those services, yet I was being told they may require payment in order to do so.’

Deputy Morel told the States Assembly that he wanted to appoint an operator which had the financial strength not only to run passenger and freight services for the next 15 years but also to invest in new vessels to replace what he described as ‘an ageing fleet’.