Alas, problems continue and on 20th September Police were called to the ferry port in Poole after stranded ferry passengers were involved in a ‘protest.’ The incident occurred the day after all Condor Liberation (above) sailings were cancelled amid ongoing problems with the vessel’s exhaust system.

The service’s troubles continued the next day after a ‘systems error’ left 70 people unable to travel from Poole to Guernsey due to overbooking. Furious would-be passengers reportedly lay on the ground at check-in and lined up their cars so no one else could get through to the ferry.

However, the vessel’s Captain spoke out against the people that had delayed the departure because the Condor Liberation then had to sail before being fully loaded due to tidal restrictions in Jersey. This affected a further 69 vehicles (55 bound for Jersey and 14 bound for Guernsey) and their passengers who were unable to travel as a result of the disruption. Everyone still wishing to travel was provided with accommodation in Poole overnight. Exceptionally low tides had also delayed some sailings by several hours prior to this incident and the single daily rotation was cancelled again on 22nd September to permit repairs.

These scenarios were worsened by the lack of the Commodore Clipper, which was on refit at Falmouth. Complete with the Condor “ribbons” on her superstructure and exhaust scrubbers, the ‘Clipper resumed service on 11th October in place of the Commodore goodwill (evening departures from Portsmouth). The Condor Liberation will be dry docked 19th January-9th February and the Condor Rapide will be likewise 5th-21st January. When each craft is off service, the other will operate from both Poole and St. Malo.