Service Level Agreement with Condor and records kept by Jersey Harbours of late arrivals and departures of scheduled ferry sailings

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 13th SEPTEMBER 2010

Question

Do Jersey Harbours maintain any records of late arrivals and departures of scheduled ferry sailings and, if so, on how many occasions in 2010 have any of the Condor ferries been delayed and would the Minister outline the reasons for the delays (i.e. weather, engine problem) in respect of the following –

1. longer than 30 minutes;
2. longer than 1 hour;
3. for longer than 2 hours;
4. for longer than 3 hours;
5. for longer periods?

When passengers are delayed what compensation is available to them?

When was the first Service Level Agreement put into place, how many times has it been renewed to date and what is the current date of expiry?

Will the Minister be reviewing any new Service Level Agreement and in doing so put the United Kingdom (UK) and St. Malo shipping routes out to tender?

If the shipping routes are not to go out to tender, will the Minister undertake to negotiate with Condor to increase the number of direct rotations to the UK?

Answer

Jersey Harbours maintains records of all sailing times and, in addition, Condor are also expected to provide performance data on a quarterly basis. The following breakdown has been provided by Condor covering over 1,100 ship visits during the 8 months to August. 84% of sailings were within 30 minutes of scheduled time. Only 1% (16 sailings) were delayed for over 2 hours or cancelled.

Summary Vessel Performance v Schedule: January to August 2010

Vessel Calls By Destination

Punctuality Poole Weym'th St Malo Portsm'th Total %

< 30 Minutes 34 220 359 333 945 84% 30-60 Minutes 33 24 13 29 99 9% 1-2 Hours 26 9 5 27 66 6% 2-3 Hours 1 2 1 1 4 0.3%

> 3 Hours 0 0 1 2 3 0.2% Cancelled 0 2 0 7 9 0.8% Total 93 255 378 398 1,124 100%

Delays are analysed under 6 headings as follows:

Car Deck load 9% 15% 5% 22% 15% Port / Berth Congestion 15% 17% 38% 7% 15% Other 5% 8% 5% 29% 14%

* Catch up' refers to delayed start time for the vessel from a previous route.

Question –

When passengers are delayed what compensation is available to them? Answer:

Compensation is explained in Condor's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document, which is available on-line at www.condorferries.co.uk/Faqs . The detail is quoted as follows:

Do I get compensation if my sailing is delayed or cancelled?

In  the  event  of  delays  or  cancellations  caused  by  adverse  weather  conditions,  we  do  not  offer  any compensation.  Customers  should  refer  to  their  travel  insurance  policy  for  any  claim  entitlements. Customers can obtain a delayed travel declaration form at port on the day of travel, or apply in writing to the Condor Ferries' Customer Services at the address below.

In the event of technical problems with a service, Condor Ferries offers compensation for delays in departure in excess of 4 hours which are solely within the control of the Company and not compounded by other factors such as port tidal closures, port congestion or weather. Customers who experience a delay in excess of 4 hours are entitled to claim in writing to the Condor Ferries' Customer Service address below for the following amounts: 50% refund of the value of their ticket for the crossing affected plus £6.50 per person for provision of food and beverages.

Question

When was the first Service Level Agreement put into place, how many times has it been renewed to date and what is the current date of expiry?

Answer:

The first service level agreement with Condor was signed on 16 July 2001 and covered the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2006. It covered routes to and from the UK only.

A new agreement, specifically for the St Malo route, was made on 1 August 2007 and was valid until 31 December 2008.

As a result of changes in the legislation a new permit was issued on 5 June 2008. This replaced both the existing agreement for the St Malo route and the expired agreement for the northern routes. This permit is valid until 31 December 2013.

Question

Will the Minister be reviewing any new Service Level Agreement and in doing so put the United Kingdom (UK) and St. Malo shipping routes out to tender?

Answer:

The Minister will review the existing policy, the permit and the associated conditions. This will be in conjunction with Guernsey and as a direct response to the recent Pan-CI consultation on ferry regulation (Competition, Licensing and Regulation in the Car and Passenger Ferry Market' published on 10 June 2010).

This consultation ran for twelve weeks and closed on 2 September. The associated survey attracted three hundred and seventy two (372) responses which are now being collated and analysed. Additionally, there were eleven formal written corporate responses and a further eight from individuals.

Until that analysis is complete and the Minister has discussed matters with his counterparts in Guernsey, no decision can be made about whether or not a tender for routes would be appropriate.

Question

If the shipping routes are not to go out to tender, will the Minister undertake to negotiate with Condor to increase the number of direct rotations to the UK?

Answer:

Given that no decision has been taken as to whether a tender process would be desirable, this question cannot yet be answered.

However, the following background information may be of interest: Between May and the end of September there is a direct service from Poole to St Malo via Jersey, and back. Since May this year, Condor have operated a total of 91 direct high speed craft sailings from Jersey to the UK or UK to Jersey.

Additionally, the Commodore Clipper operates a direct service northbound overnight, six days a week and year round.

In winter generally, it should be noted that there is no shortage of capacity on the UK routes. It is also a geographical fact that Jersey is further south than Guernsey. So, it is not surprising to find that most winter services involve a stop in Guernsey.