HD FERRIES’ skippers have denied that its vessel is difficult to manoeuvre and unsuitable for use here. The operator ended its service yesterday to sort out its problems before returning on 21 March.

The fast ferry HD1 will dock in Portsmouth on Thursday and technical and certification issues will be addressed during the winter.

A catalogue of collisions and mishaps occurred during the season and its Jersey ramp licence was revoked temporarily.

Mate master Steve Reed admitted handling the ferry had been a steep learning curve.

‘Once we got the confidence, there wasn’t the problem that people seem to think there was,’ he said.

‘It’s actually an extremely easy vessel to manoeuvre and it’s fully certified to operate worldwide. There are no restrictions anywhere, and nor should there be.

‘The only problem is that we cannot operate when waves are more than 2.4m in height, so there are bound to be more cancellations because of that.’

HD1 has been running on three out of four engines for the past four months, which has reduced its speed from 45 to 33 knots.

Senior master Mik Henriksen said he had been extremely happy with the support from the Guernsey public throughout the season. ‘It’s been a pleasure to come to work on this route – it really makes the days worthwhile,’ he said.

‘I’d like to say a big thank you to all the passengers who travelled with us. We are looking forward to coming back next year in full force.’

HD Ferries staff are to undergo training during the break in order to dispose with the need for a pilot to come on board the ship when entering St Helier harbour.

Chief executive Chris Howe-Davies revealed that a new vessel might even be on the horizon in future.

‘We anticipate we will have a far more successful season next year and that means we could be looking at buying a bigger ship or another one,’ he said.

‘We decided to suspend services because it was felt by all that this was the most practical way of moving forward.

‘For now we are concentrating on getting into shape for 2008. The previous problems are history. We have learnt from them and are moving on.’

Mr Howe-Davies also said that he was doing his best to make sure that his staff stayed together during the winter.

‘Some of them are going to UK operations in the meantime, but we want them back because they are a close-knit, highly professional team,’ he said.