The 316-passenger ferry San Pawl arrived in the island just over a week ago, and the new ferry team have spent that time familiarising themselves with the new vessel, and carrying out sea and berthing trials in both Guernsey and Jersey harbours.
CEO Captain Chad Murray said that it had been exciting and stressful, but everything was moving in the right direction.
‘There’s a lot of work getting the crew familiarised and the captain trained,’ he said.
‘We’re also going through a load of compliance checks and surveys, so it’s full throttle, full steam ahead, but everything is going in the right direction.
‘It’s great to reach the milestone of the vessel being physically in Channel Island waters.’
The inter-island ferry service has received £150,000 of backing from Guernsey’s government.
Mr Murray said that bookings so far had been strong.
‘There’s been a bit of an increase since the boat arrived, I think people are building confidence now that they see the ship here,’ he said.
‘We’re also getting into the summer season, so we’re probably seeing more from visitors to both islands which is great, and people moving between the islands, which is obviously the whole purpose of us being here.
‘As long as the weather is on our side, we’re all ready for Friday.’
A new Islands Unlimited desk has appeared in the harbour terminal, and the hour-long sailings between the islands are available for booking.
The first scheduled sailing from Guernsey to Jersey departs at 7am on Friday.
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