Ferries – separating fact from fiction

Two ferry stories in the past fortnight which are probably non-stories.

1. The Daily Telegraph reported on 24th January that Condor Ferries was to be sold on by Royal Bank of Scotland (the report has not been confirmed or denied by the company). However, as Rob Provan their chief executive has pointed out, it has no impact on the business. RBS bought Condor from ABN Amro just 3 & ½ years ago, so presumably this is about realising some nice profits rather than any issues to do with the business.

2. HD Ferries, who have always been good at spinning stories, announced on Monday this week that they plan to start services to the UK in direct competition with Condor. Whilst there is no exclusivity, there is a service level agreement and common transport policy with Guernsey that would require both a back-up traditional ferry service and probably another high-speed craft. Their chief executive, Christopher Howe-Davies suggested that the announcement about Condor’s sale would unsettle travellers. How so?

So competition is already hotting up and HD Ferries have not even started their St Malo service yet! By the way I wonder whatever happened to HD’s announcement that they were going to sue Condor (see previous blog)?