The Jersey operator claimed on Friday that it had secured the best ramp times of 7.45am French time, having been muscled out due to a late start of its operations to Jersey in 2025.
The announcement sent Brittany and the States into something of a spin, but they bounced back today to announce an 8.15 departure for Voyager from the French port, just 15 minutes later than it was this summer, arriving into Guernsey at 9.15 local time.
An unhappy DFDS announced within the hour that its timings had been switched from 7.45 to 7.15am, and said it would be looking for answers from the port authorities as to why this had changed without notice.
‘It is clear that the Government of Jersey and DFDS jumped to conclusions by making an early announcement last week as discussions were still ongoing,’ said Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu.
Economic Development Committee president Sasha Kazantseva-Miller described the update as ‘a significant development’.
‘We are very pleased to have had the good news from Brittany that we will continue to have access to a prime-time harbour slot in 2026, which will allow us to continue to grow the French visitor market.
‘We have seen the clear successes of these services in 2025 and will continue investing and growing our passenger and freight numbers.’
Brittany Ferries said that picking up the Guernsey route from Condor Ferries from the end of March had seen route growth of 55%, overall passenger traffic up 14.1% and freight traffic up 48.1% year-on-year, with another 15,000 passengers carried between Poole and St Malo.
‘We are obviously delighted to have secured these optimal timings as it allows us to continue developing services following such a positive first season,’ Mr Mathieu said.
‘The decision reflects the importance of Brittany Ferries to St Malo port. The changes mean we can optimise our operations with the arrivals and departures each day of Voyager and our Portsmouth vessel, the Saint-Malo.
‘We have ambitious plans to develop services from St Malo to the Bailiwick and onward to the UK, creating opportunities and tangible benefits for local economies and tourism sectors.
‘In parallel, we continue to work closely with the States of Guernsey on plans to increase freight volumes to the island, following three trade delegations during the third quarter of this year.’
Movements at the port of St Malo will be restricted next summer due to redevelopment work putting one of its ro-ro ramps out of action. The States said that the agreement with the port was based on strong working relationships with all parties.
Brittany has agreed to delay the arrival of its Portsmouth ferry to facilitate the easier movement of ferry traffic.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said that the States was keen to keep working with the French authorities and praised the ‘excellent’ working relationship with Brittany Ferries.
‘They are a critical part of the French and UK transport and infrastructure networks, and their partnership approach to working with Guernsey has been invaluable.
‘One of the important factors in us securing this slot was Brittany Ferries accommodating a later departure of their Portsmouth service, which will come at an additional cost to their operations.
‘On more than one occasion, Brittany Ferries have gone above and beyond to secure provision of ferry services for our island communities.
‘We look forward to working closely with the port of St Malo, Brittany Ferries and the tourism authorities of the region in 2026 and beyond to grow our passenger numbers and freight numbers further.’
DFDS said that the update appeared to contradict previous written confirmation of its port slots for 2026, which were set out in a letter of 16 December.
It said that on the back of this it had implemented and communicated its service plans. The company claimed that its passenger volumes to Jersey had remained ‘almost double’ those to Guernsey during 2025.
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