This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

HD1 has been valued at €12.5m.

HD FERRIES has played down fears that it is pulling out of the Channel Islands.

A spokesman said that the firm might sell its ferry, HD1, to fund a service from the islands to the UK, a spokesman has confirmed.

But the operator’s primary focus at present is to try to charter HD1 out for the winter months. It has long been known that HD Ferries hopes to introduce a northern route and spokesman Phil Jones admitted a new vessel would be needed for that.

‘We are actively exploring chartering the ship out elsewhere for the winter, maybe to the southern hemisphere, but we are not ruling out selling HD1,’ he said.

‘But if we were to do so, we would not until we had arrangements in place to buy another ship.’

Adverts have been circulated in the industry and HD1 has been valued at 12.5m. euros (about £10m.).

‘We have effectively had two adverts out for the different options,’ Mr Jones said.

‘Our primary goal at the moment is to find a place for the ship for the winter. That is not an uncommon practice for ship owners.

‘Very often people want to charter the ship initially with an option to buy. Part of our thinking as well was that if we were to go ahead with our plans to run the northern route, we would need a different ship – that much is clear.’

Mr Jones said the company was keeping its options open and had not decided on any particular type of vessel as a potential replacement.

‘Like most ship owners, we keep an eye on available vessels but it’s a little bit early for us to make a definite decision,’ he said.

HD Ferries decided against finishing the summer season and cancelled all sailings from 1 September, claiming that it was unsustainable to continue this year and that doing so would jeopardise the operator’s chances of returning in 2009.

There have been concerns as to whether HD would resume services but Mr Jones said the company was still hoping to return.

‘At the moment we remain hopeful that the climate will be favourable,’ he said.

‘The fact we are looking to employ HD1 in the winter really does not have any bearing on our plans to resume services next year. We remain optimistic that we will.’

But Max Carling of HD’s former shipping agent, Ship & Fly, thought it unlikely that HD Ferries would return next year.

He has placed an advert in the Guernsey Press to sell six of its check-in computers.

‘We have been asked to dispose of HD’s computers and if that indicates they are not coming back to the island, then so be it,’ he said.

‘From a Guernsey perspective it would be disappointing to not have more choice in 2009, but who knows? Another company may come in during the winter.’

Article posted on 16th September, 2008 - 2.29pm