Please tell me that newspaper delivery will be better by boat

How could this happen?

It was therefore with interest that I read the Guernsey Press Opinion about the approval, which appears to have been totally because no one objected.

No, I didn't object because I was sure there wasn't a cat's chance of it getting through; which just proves how little I know about how the States works.

So from now on, I will make sure my voice is heard and encourage others to follow suit.

So, am I the only one who read with disbelief the article concerning the new arrangements that will commence in a few months' time for delivering our national newspapers?

I understand that Jersey will take over the printing of all the national newspapers for the islands, no problems with that.

However, they will then be shipped instead of flown into Guernsey but apparently that's OK because the managing director of the company involved in this service has pledged better reliability.

He even backs this up with the statement 'Our mission is to be more reliable than it currently is with the plane. The only thing we cannot control is gale force winds and sea state'.

Now I know that the paper plane has had unprecedented technical problems recently but even taking that into account, could someone please tell me how many times the Channel Chieftain V would not have been able to sail because of the conditions since 1 December vs the current service? This sounds just like a Condor soundbite to me.

JD, ST SAMPSON'S.

Editor's footnote: David Nuth, Director of Iris Freight CI, responds: 'Following the article on the daily delivery of the national newspapers from Jersey by boat, I would like to provide more detail on our operations and plans which will commence in May.

We have comprehensive contingency plans in place to cover a number of different scenarios.

For example, the boat will have two new engines to increase reliability and reduce maintenance requirements. As previously reported, we will also have spare engines and gearboxes in both islands which can be replaced within seven hours.

We will also have a local support boat which is on short notice if required and we will have arrangements in place for a similar boat which we will charter for the medium term if Channel Chieftain V is out of service for more than a few days for whatever reason.

Our plans ensure that we will continue to deliver in these different scenarios.

Channel Chieftain V is a boat which has worked for many years on wind farms in the North Sea and her track record is excellent. We are confident that she will sail in most weather, up to and including force seven winds.

We have planned four routes to Guernsey and back to Jersey depending on the wind speed and direction and tide.

For example, we will sail east out of St Helier (or leave from a port in the north of the island if the weather is particularly challenging) and east of Herm and Sark to get some protection from the strong prevailing south-westerly winds.

There are no wave height restrictions on the boat – the decision to sail or not will be made by the captain early each morning depending on the current and forecast weather, the height of the waves and the state of the tide.

There may be days when the 5am sailing to Guernsey is delayed to later in the day because of the weather but we are committed to delivering the newspapers to Guernsey on as many days as we can.

The weather has been particularly challenging this winter and while a number of voyages would have been cancelled, we believe that we would have delivered on more days than the aircraft over this period.

One thing we can be sure about is that the delivery of newspapers will no longer be delayed or cancelled because of fog.'