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Jersey has abandoned the months-long process to choose a new ferry provider for the next 15 years after both bidders failed to win the tender, the island's Economic Development Minister revealed this morning.
Deputy Kirsten Morel – who has been under significant pressure these past few weeks to announce the winner – told Jersey's States this morning that the island's Council of Ministers had instead voted last Friday to embark on a new “rapid” process to confirm the new ferry service which would be “short and simple”.
His impromptu statement was also the first time he confirmed that the bid from Condor’s rival DFDS was considered by Jersey to be “the better of the two” – but he revealed that the Danish ferry service had been “eliminated” from the process on a “technical legal point”.
Meetings are now set to be held between Jersey's officials and both Condor Ferries and DFDS next week, Deputy Morel said, and “independent evaluators will assess the bids”.
Jersey's Officers will provide a preferred bidder recommendation by the end of this month, and Deputy Morel will then seek the Council of Ministers support for the recommendation, before announcing the winner also before the end of November.
The winner will start their service at the end of March 2025.
Deputy Morel said there were "strong reasons" why Jersey had taken longer than Guernsey and spent time outlining the financial difficulties that Condor Ferries is currently facing.
Meanwhile, Guernsey is pushing ahead with plans to go it alone with Brittany Ferries as our preferred bid.
Yesterday, Deputy Neil Inder said he is confident that the island can have its own ferry service, without Jersey being involved.
He also hit back at the "inaccurate narrative being purported" around the ferry tender process, saying Guernsey did not break away from the pan-island process, and that Brittany Ferries was selected as Guernsey's preferred operator based on the scoring process both islands were using, and that by doing so, Guernsey has got "certainty" which Jersey now doesn't.
Previously, Jersey has said they did not know and that Ministers there were left blindsided when our Economic Development Committee announced on 30 October that our preferred bidder for the pan-island contract was Brittany Ferries, the parent company of incumbent Condor Ferries.
Now, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, the Chief Minister of Jersey, has told his government that Jersey had been notified of Guernsey’s decision to announce their preferred bidder was Brittany Ferries and not DFDS in a Teams meeting on 17 October.
Deputy Farnham also told Jersey States yesterday that this Teams meeting, almost a month ago, was the last time he spoke to Guernsey's politicians.
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