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Brittany Ferries has been picked as Guernsey’s preferred bidder to provide lifeline sea links for the island.
It made the announcement tonight as Jersey confirmed it will have talks with both bidders, believed to include DFDS, in the next 24 hours as it decides how to move forward.
The islands have run a joint tender exercise for the last 10 months.
Guernsey Economic Development committee decided unanimously to appoint Brittany Ferries as its preferred bidder, subject to further negotiations on the contract.
Brittany Ferries has provided assurance that they had access to a suitable fleet and would be able to begin operations immediately, with the summer schedule ready to be published shortly.
It is expected that a formal agreement will be reached in November and the prospect remains Guernsey could go it alone.
Brittany Ferries will provide the island's lifeline sea links, freight services and passenger services, using its management and infrastructure as well as deploying Condor's current fleet.
Guernsey's preference remains a shared pan Channel Island service with Jersey, it has said.
"The tender process has been robust, and the committee has reached an evidence-based conclusion," said Economic Development President Neil Inder.
"At this stage Guernsey and Jersey have not reached a shared view on how to proceed. That is not for me to comment on, and I understand political discussions in Jersey are ongoing. All I can say at this stage is that while both islands share common objectives, agreement has not yet been reached on the best way to jointly deliver those objectives.
"The Committee has not taken the decision to push ahead alone at this stage lightly, but following the objective evaluation process Brittany Ferries' bid was successful and we are committed to providing certainty to islanders as soon as we were able to do so."
He added that if they did move to a Guernsey-only service from Brittany Ferries, the new arrangement would mean that the way that some services operate will be changed, but there would still be the same freight and passenger capacity for the community.
"We will then move to considering how we can secure investment in new vessels.
"This has not been an easy process at times, but it has been thorough and approached by the States of Guernsey in a professional manner – in line with the expectations our community would have for such a significant decision and for the use of their money.
"At this stage we now move into a phase of commercial negotiation and continue to follow a proper process, which means a need to keep the ongoing discussions with Brittany confidential for understandable reasons. We will also continue talking to Jersey."
Guernsey's Chamber of Commerce has asked its members for their views on the decision ahead of a meeting with the States.
We are meeting with Government at 2pm (Thursday 31st) to discuss the ferry tender decision and represent your views. Post your questions below or email alice@guernseychamber.com
— Guernsey Chamber (@GuernseyChamber) October 30, 2024
A Jersey government spokepseron said: "We recognise the importance of this decision for all islanders as this is a 15-year contract for lifeline ferry services, and we are doing everything possible to ensure a swift conclusion. We're planning to meet with both bidders in the next 24 hours, as we have further questions that need to be answered."
More to come...
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