Manche Iles Express "preferred bidder" for inter-island ferry

Thursday 08 February 2018

The States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey have identified Manche Iles-Express as the preferred bidder to enter into further discussion with in respect of provision of enhanced inter-island passenger only ferry services.

There were nine expressions of interests, and two formal tender submissions. While the submission received by the preferred bidder did not fully meet the scheduling requirements set out in the Invitation to Tender (ITT), it represents in the region of 25,000 extra seats.

No formal award has been made yet, but the objective remains to have an enhanced service in operation by 1 May 2018.

At this stage the proposal would not require financial support or underwriting from the States of Guernsey or the States of Jersey.

Pictured l-r: Senator Lyndon Farnham and Deputy Charles Parkinson

"The tender process has given a good opportunity to improve inter-island connectivity for the summer with an additional 25,000 seats," Deputy Charles Parkinson, President of the Committee for Economic Development in Guernsey, said.

"We will be working hard with the preferred supplier to maximise this opportunity if at all possible – which includes the feasibility of providing additional services to Alderney."

Senator Lyndon Farnham, Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport & Culture in Jersey added that the improving the connectivity opportunities between the two islands remained a clear focus:

"The proposal under consideration represents a clear improvements on the options available in 2017. it is a good start, but clearly there is still work to be done to secure the maximum opportunities for both islands."

The inter-island ferry tendering process closed on 18 January 2018 with two formal tenders submitted. Two of the known other operators that came forward for the expression of interest, Condor and BachmannsHR, decided not to go ahead with the tender because of the time frame they would have been left with.

The recommendation of the tender review panel was to hold further discussions with the preferred supplier to ascertain whether there were opportunities to improve the proposal put forward. Both companies that formally tendered were informed of the outcome on 2 February.

Further dialogue will be held with Manche Iles Express and therefore it is not possible at this stage to set out any further detail of the proposal.

Pictured top: Manche Iles ferry pictured by Tony Rive