DFDS ‘stabbed us in the back’, says Brittany Ferries’ chairman

In a wide-ranging interview with French regional publication Ouest France, Jean-Marc Roue said Brittany Ferries was ‘deceived by people who had already made their decision behind closed doors’.

‘This was all predetermined,’ he said.

‘DFDS is now clearly a competitor, even though I had great confidence in them. They used unfair methods to take over a market where they can afford to lose money.’

Jersey’s decision to choose DFDS as its ferry operator in December was the subject of a legal challenge by Brittany Ferries, which was thrown out by Jersey’s Court of Appeal. The action followed a drawn-out pan-island tender process, which culminated in Guernsey announcing Condor and parent company Brittany Ferries as its preferred operator at the end of October.

However, Jersey expressed ‘financial concerns’ regarding the Condor/Brittany bid, and subsequently opened a second tender process of its own, awarding its contract to DFDS on 3 December.

Mr Roue said his company appealed to the Jersey court to obtain the results of the first tender because ‘we knew that we won it.’ ‘We were not disqualified, but DFDS was. In the second round, we had no chance of winning – four ships were required for Jersey. I am not the wealthiest shipowner.’

Jersey Economic Development minister Kirsten Morel has previously stated that both Brittany Ferries and DFDS lost in the first tender.

Mr Roue said he was still requesting lot-by-lot publication of the first tender’s results, but confirmed Brittany Ferries would not take the case to a higher court.

When asked what he thought of the schedules published by DFDS, Mr Roue said they had not been confirmed by St Malo’s port authority.

‘Furthermore, when the Jersey government and DFDS blame us for delaying the publication of the schedules – and therefore bookings – I remind you that the four-month delay was due to the chaos surrounding the contract, not just to the legal challenges we initiated.’

He said Brittany Ferries would work with DFDS and Manche-Iles Express ‘towards a fair division’ regarding the operators’ involvement in future Jersey-Guernsey services. In terms of passenger carryings between the two islands, Mr Roue said the company transported 600,000 passengers each year, including 400,000 on the Jersey route which made it ‘one of the most profitable markets’.

He said that the Guernsey route alone was profitable. As for what would be done with the Brittany vessels currently operating the Jersey route, Mr Roue said it was likely some of them would be sold.

Regarding the economic performance of Condor – of which Brittany Ferries is the parent company – he said it had always been profitable, and did not lose money in 2023 and 2024. However, it incurred ‘significant’ debt during the pandemic.

‘At that time, we requested support from Jersey, which declined. We also sought a deferral of port fees. Poole, Guernsey, and St Malo agreed, Jersey refused.

‘When we became the majority shareholders of Condor, we cleared the debt.’

As for what the future held for Condor employees affected by the operator changes, Mr Roue said preparations were under way for a transfer to DFDS, but added that the Danish company was running that process.

DFDS was approached for comment.