Cars stuck on Clipper after ramp failure

Tuesday 24 December 2019

Condor has provided hire cars for passengers whose vehicles are likely to be stuck on board the Clipper over Christmas.

A spokesman for the ferry company said repairs are being undertaken with the aim of having the vessel back in service and fully operational for her next scheduled service on 27 December. However, that sailing has now been cancelled.

"Condor has provided hire cars for 31 passengers arriving in Guernsey today on Commodore Clipper after a fault prevented the ship’s internal ramp from being deployed so vehicles could not be brought ashore," they said. 

"The issue was discovered shortly before departure from Portsmouth at lunchtime.

"Clipper is not due in service until 27 December so repairs will be undertaken with a view to returning her to service straight after Christmas."

Connie Pang-Helie, who was travelling with her husband and their 13-week-old son, said they had managed to retrieve their belongings, but that others had not been so lucky.

"The cars have returned back to Portsmouth and they have to get cranes involved to work out what went wrong with the ramp. Shame this was only found out after we were onboard as we were essentially captive," she said. "We were given an option to get off at Portsmouth before sailing but it still meant that we would not have our vehicles.

"They couldn't cancel the trip as there must have been lots of food and other freight on the deck below.  We were all taken down to our vehicles shortly after 1am to allow us to retrieve the belongings we wanted out of our cars and then transferred to the terminal by minibus, essentially we became foot passengers and our belongings loaded into the baggage trolley.

"They did manage to get hire cars for those of us affected and we just managed to squeeze our belongings into it. Some others were not so lucky and had to go back to the Condor desk this morning. We got home at 3am. Cars loaded in Guernsey were loaded on the lower deck so unaffected.

Mrs Pang-Helie said they expected to receive further updates on 27th or 28th December. 

Pictured top: The Condor Clipper.