Condor cuts speed to aid reliability
Tuesday 14th December 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
RUNNING engines more slowly and a longer down-time between sailings will be the keys to avoiding Condor’s crippling engine troubles and delays, its managing director has said.
Simon Edsall (pictured) said the 2011 schedule was a direct response to the negative feedback received by disappointed customers this summer.
‘Obviously we had a lot of problems this summer and we spent a lot of time investigating a new way of operating,’ he said.
The first major change will be that all ferries will run engines at five per cent lower revolutions per minute.
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Is Mr Edsall really saying that passengers will basically not be provided with a full service by Condor and instead we will just have to make do with slower boats in 2011?
I think what he fails to appreciate is that Condor serves Island communities, and therefore differs from other companies such as P&O or Britanny Ferries which serve the mainland. Providing a ferry service to an Island community is always going to be more emotive and subject to more criticism but Condor really need to step up to the mark here, especially as they appear to have a State licenced monopoly to run car ferry services to and from the Islands (and this in itself should be looked at by the States again soon). Thus it has a moral responsibility to provide a proper and realistic lifeline to Islanders in both Guernsey and Jersey. For example, a better timetable in autumn/winter, not just cancelling boats at the last minute, more investment (particularly in respect of the engines which are always malfunctioning), a more regular service with Jersey and even an actual service to Alderney and Cherbourg, better pre-departure communication with passengers and perhaps more competitive rates especially for car passengers – it is currently cheaper to fly to Jersey for the weekend and hire a car than it is to take your car to Jersey on the ferry (and the plane times are far better than the boat times).
As Condor do have the monopoly here, perhaps the States of Guernsey and Jersey could help them out financially with some of this to ensure that Islanders get the sort of ferry service that they deserve. Otherwise, I would like to see the licence situation reviewed at the next available opportunity as Condor’s commitment to the Islands is clearly questionable.
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I’m certainly no expert on shipping so I wonder if any maritime experts out there could answer my questions:
Could it be that the engines and fast ferries are simply not suited to running at full capacity in the rougher seas of the English Channel?
On a similar tack, perhaps Condor have shot themselves in the foot by pushing their boats too hard in order to meet commercial targets? If you run a car a full belt eventually it will break down.
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Condor Schmondor – I think that from your analysis they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Their problem this year was that they were trying to meet customer demand for fast journey times, and were running their engines too hard for too long in order to do so. That then caused the breakdowns, cancelled sailings, etc. All they are saying now is that they will have to ease back on the throttle to ensure consistent service. You cannot have it both ways.
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