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There'll be a slight delay before Alderney's new ferry starts its local services with an estimated 10-day lead in on a part being built and delivered.
The Dart Fisher was sailing from Great Yarmouth to Cherbourg on Friday night, before a planned journey across to Alderney.
However, shortly after departing the UK port a supply failure forced the ship to return to dock.
Alderney Ferry Service has been told that it will be 10-days before the necessary part is with them. But they are already making plans for the onward journey having seen first hand how "perfectly well" she handled at sea.
"Like we always have done in our business, we like to keep you all informed with anything that affects us," explained Alderney Ferry Service in a message to customers on Sunday morning. "...on our night passage down to Cherbourg Friday night with Dart Fisher, within an hour of our trip we had a supply failure forcing us to return back to Great Yarmouth to access and address the fault.This has already been done but unfortunately the part we require is estimated to be a 10 day delivery due to it being specifically built.
"We are absolutely gutted by this setback and are doing all we can to speed up the process where possible to get her home and into service," they said.
"On a positive note Dan said that the seas were a good 2 meters and that she handled perfectly well where our other boats would have been cancelled.
"We are sorry for the step back however it is best we get these addressed now rather than when in full service."
Pictured: Dan Slimm of Alderney Ferry Services with the Dart Fisher earlier this year.
Alderney Ferry Services won the contract to run a seasonal, subsidised ferry service between Alderney and Guernsey last year.
Earlier this year, it said the investment in the 24-metre Dart Fisher was another step towards bolstering the island’s links to the outside world with plans to offer a year-round service connecting Alderney with Guernsey via a daily service, with additional links to Cherbourg in France.
The ferry is coded for 12 passengers, but it's understood a dispensation will allow it to carry up to 36.
Alderney Ferry Services tried to buy this ship last year, but the owner didn’t want to sell at the time. They revisited the opportunity earlier this year and were successful in securing the vessel.
The company had a boost to its plans recently when the States of Alderney agreed to subsidise an additional 30 sailings between Alderney and Guernsey this month.
It was said that could bring an additional 400 people to the island.
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