Owned by King Charles III and run by centrist/rightist governments, the Channel Island been suffering a terrible ferry fiasco for years now with locals often unable to meet important medical appointments and businesses run businesses, especially in tourism.
From BBC South-West, today:
Ferry firms and business groups have called for an “immediate” decision on which company will run ferry operations in the Channel Islands from March.
Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the Jersey Hospitality Association, said in a statement that the “prolonged impasse” on awarding the contract was “detrimental” to tourism. Christophe Mathieu, chief executive of Brittany Ferries and Condor Ferries, said tourists would “go elsewhere”.
He said there had been no booking for the Channel Islands services in 2025, “a direct consequence of delays and uncertainty in the tender process”.
Islanders may worry that Condor ferries get the contract. See this in July 2024:
Channel Islands foreign ferry crew cannot speak and steer well enough to avoid killing fishermen or hit a harbour wall but CalMac crew can do this
A Ukrainian national working for Condor Ferries was charged with three counts of manslaughter following a collision between a Condor Ferry and a fishing trawler off Jersey’s north west coast [in December 2022]. Artur Sevash-Zade, a Ukrainian national, was arrested in the UK and brought to Jersey to appear at the island’s Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 3 July.
An intrepreter was present and translated for Mr Sevash-Zade who did not speak throughout the hearing. The court heard that he works at sea and has no fixed address in either the UK or Jersey.
So, unable to speak English well and serving full-time, 16 hour days (?) on a privately owned ferry, which kills three French fishermen in December 2022.
The day before:
More than 100 Condor Ferries passengers were left stranded in Jersey overnight after the vessel they were on hit a harbour wall.
The Condor Islander was stopping off in Jersey during its journey from Portsmouth to Guernsey when the starboard side struck the east berth of St Helier Harbour.
The incident happened during strong winds on the evening of Wednesday 3 July and there are no known injuries – Condor has described it as “light contact”.
Bringing a ferry into harbour in high winds when you can speak the same language as the rest of the crew and can afford a home? See the above.
Sources:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 