History of Ferries Timeline

As preparations were already under consideration for a service to Weymouth for the 1987 season, the set up was swift and took advantage of the limited capacity available due to the strikes.

The failure of the joint venture between Sealink British Ferries and Channel Island Ferries in September 1986 and the resulting strike provided Condor with an opportunity to introduce a service between the Channel Islands and Weymouth.

Société Nouvelle d'Armement Transmanche (SNAT), which ran SNCF's shipping division, entered into a pooling agreement in 1994 with Condor Ferries to fill capacity on SNAT's Channiland Ferries services, launched in 1992.

In March 1997, Condor moved its UK port from Weymouth to Poole, prompting the Channel Island governments to put the licence to operate ferry services to the UK out to tender later that year.

Following Condor's move to Poole, the Channel Island governments announced on 15 October 1997 that they were putting the licence to operate ferry services to the UK out to tender, attracting nine expressions of interest.

By June 1998 it had become clear that Guernsey favoured the P&O bid, with Jersey favouring Condor — an impractical scenario of two islands being served by different operations, and neither bid had been based on this scenario.

The commencement of Condor car-carrying services to France from Jersey had an immediate effect on incumbent operator Emeraude Lines, which faced financial difficulties by October 2003, filed for bankruptcy protection in France with debts of €4 million, was purchased by the Sogestran Group, and finally collapsed in 2005.

After press releases from both sides and HD1 having its wave height limit reduced from 2.5 metres to 2m, the HD Ferries ramp permit for Jersey and Guernsey was withdrawn on 19 August 2007, preventing the company from operating until it recommenced on 25 August 2007.

In December 2012, Condor had its operational permit to run Channel Island services extended until 2019.

It was decided by Brittany Ferries in 2013 not to renew the joint Poole-Cherbourg service that had been running since 2001.

By 2014, Condor Express and Condor Vitesse were reaching the end of their operational lives, but there was reluctance to buy new tonnage without security of service. A protracted process led to a new ten-year operating licence finally agreed on 31 July 2014, running until 2024.

A joint ferry tender process between Guernsey and Jersey began on 14 May 2024. In June 2024, Stena Line revealed it had also applied but chose to withdraw from the process.

On 31 October 2024, Guernsey chose to appoint Brittany Ferries as its preferred company to operate a 15-year service contract.

Jersey announced on 3 December 2024 that it had selected DFDS as its preferred operator for the next 15 years from spring 2025, ending Condor's 60 years of lifeline operations in Jersey.

On 9 October 1994 Condor 11 was on sea trials off Tasmania travelling at 36 knots when she struck Black Jack Reef some 12 miles off Hobart, while under the command of Incat managing director Robert Clifford.

The pooling agreement and Channiland services came to a swift end after an April 1995 incident when Saint Malo struck a rock known as La Frouquie, 900 metres north of La Corbière.

On 11 May 2007 HD Ferries' ship HD1 collided with the Commodore Goodwill in Jersey Harbour, an early sign of growing friction between the two operators.

A more serious incident occurred on 28 July 2007 when HD1, while manoeuvring in Jersey Harbour, collided with Condor Express which was berthed at the time.

On 10 December 2007, bad weather caused the Commodore Goodwill to strike the entrance to La Collette yacht basin in St Helier harbour. On 13 December, the Brittany Ferries freight vessel Coutances was chartered to temporarily take its place.

A fire broke out on the Commodore Clipper's lower vehicle deck in the early hours of 16 June 2010 whilst it was travelling from Jersey to Portsmouth.

At approximately 06:45 UTC on 28 March 2011 the Condor Vitesse collided with the 9.3m Granville fishing boat Les Marquises near the Minquiers reef south of Jersey in foggy conditions. In September 2013 the court in Coutances found the Vitesse captain Paul Le Romancer and first officer Yves Tournon guilty of manslaughter, involuntary injury and failure to respect maritime regulations.

On 14 July 2014, the Commodore Clipper accidentally grounded off Guernsey.

On 28 March 2015, the day after entering service, Condor Liberation struck the quayside while attempting to dock in Guernsey on her second day of operation. Damage was minor, though she had to return to Poole for repairs, and further technical problems and hull damage during Storm Frank followed into 2016.

Image source: Pepita Castellví

On 8 December 2022, the Commodore Goodwill departed Guernsey at 04:41 bound for Jersey when at around 05:30 it collided with L'Ecume II, an 18-metre fishing trawler.

Services from Weymouth were temporarily suspended in February 2012 after large cracks appeared in their berth at the port. Reconstruction works were completed and Condor returned in July 2013 after a hiatus of 18 months.

It was announced on 4 October 2012 that Condor Logistics would close its operations with the loss of about 180 jobs (110 in the UK, 50 in Jersey and 20 in Guernsey).

It was announced in 2015 that both Condor Express and Condor Vitesse were to be sold and replaced by the much larger Condor Liberation. After modification at Austal's Philippines yard, Condor Liberation entered service on 27 March 2015 operating from Poole.

In June 2019, the UK-based financial website This is Money reported that Macquarie Group was looking to wind down Condor's then-owner, the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 2.

Between 2022 and 2023, Condor operated summer fast-ferry services between Poole, Portsmouth, and Cherbourg for Brittany Ferries using the Condor Liberation.

In April 2023, the States of Guernsey loaned Condor Ferries £26 million in a joint venture to purchase the Straitsman, which was operating across the Cook Strait at the time, after earlier plans for a direct purchase were called off in 2022.

Condor Islander's entry to service in October 2023 was marred by weather disruption caused by Storm Babet and technical difficulties not long after.

Image source: MV Islander

In December 2023, Condor Ferries announced it was facing financial issues and would increase freight charges by nearly 19% from January 2024.

In March 2024, Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries who had recently become CEO of Condor Ferries, announced Brittany Ferries had loaned Condor £10 million to cover unpaid port fees, believing low usage of Condor Islander led to the financial issues.

On 28 March 2025, the Guernsey-only operation was taken over by Brittany Ferries, using the Condor Islander and Condor Voyager, with the Commodore Clipper as a back-up vessel.