Professor John Robertson OBA, Navel Architect

From the Bournemouth Daily Echo, two days ago:

The Condor Liberation has made its final passage through Poole Harbour and out to sea. The ferry made its final departure from Poole at around 10am on Friday morning, March 28,, escorted through the harbour by a flotilla of our Harbour Master’s team and other working vessels, paying tribute to her years of service.¹

How many years of service?

Originally named Austal 102, it was built Austal at its shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia as a speculative order. It was launched in January 2010 and was laid up at the shipyard for four years before an owner was found. In 2014, Condor Ferries extended its agreement to run Channel Island services until 2020 and subsequently purchased Austal 270 which it named Condor Liberation. After being modified at Austal’s Philippines yard, it entered service with Condor Ferries on 27 March 2015 operating out of Poole. On the 10 February 2025 it was announced Condor Ferries had put the ship up for sale.²

Just the 10 years in the Channel?

How did it go?

On 28 March 2015, the day after she entered official commercial service, Condor Liberation hit the quayside in Guernsey in strong winds. The collision caused damage to her hull which prevented further use of the vessel until repaired.

Condor Liberation has received numerous reports from passengers about the vessel’s rolling characteristics. Notably an incident on 18 May 2015 prompted in excess of 50 reports of “Corkscrewing” in two metre seas on her evening sailing from Guernsey to Poole. This included a video filmed on board at the time of the incident clearly showing Condor Liberation listing heavily. Condor later reiterated the safety of the vessel noting the important difference between safety (and stability) and ride comfort.

Amid reports of ride problems and procedures for passenger embarkation (involving embarking via car decks for foot passengers), it was reported that the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) would launch an investigation into the vessel’s suitability to operate in the waters of the English Channel.²

Catamarans not suitable for the stormy Channel? How does Poole compare with CalMac’s regular seas? See this:

Are catamarans OK in other places, say a Canadian lake?

Canada buys two catamaran ferries from Romania which take another two years to make ready then quickly prove unsuitable for the conditions

Kind of makes you think that guy [below] in the Herald, backed by Labour might have been a bit off the mark, doesn’t it?

Sources:

1. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/farewell-condor-liberation-ferry-leaves-poole-for-final-time/ar-AA1BQM63?ocid=BingNewsVerp

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSC_Condor_Liberation

3. https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/41551~33976~33961~33104~33105/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Poole-Stornoway-Isle-of-Islay-Barra-and-Isle-of-North-Uist