TWO high-speed craft that will serve Islanders once DFDS takes over Jersey’s ferry services next year have been revealed by the Danish shipping giant – which is expected to publish its summer timetable this week.
The operator’s route director for Jersey, Chris Parker, said that Levante Jet and Tarifa Jet would be used for sailings to Poole and St Malo.
Levante Jet has capacity for 675 passengers and 151 vehicles, while Tarifa Jet can take 175 vehicles and more than 750 passengers.
The vessels were built in 2015 and 1997 respectively.
“We look forward to introducing these two high-speed crafts to Jersey. They are state-of-the-art vessels that will enhance the travel experience but also play a crucial role in supporting local tourism,” Mr Parker said.
“They are two high-speed craft that we are currently using on our Strait of Gibraltar routes, but we will be bringing them up to start services to Poole and to St Malo,” he explained, adding that representatives from DFDS had recently visited the latter port.
“We have had very good conversations with St Malo, not just about now, but also the future – there is a desire within the region to see more connectivity.”
DFDS is expected to publish its summer timetable by tomorrow, having won the tender for the Island’s freight and passenger ferry services.
It recently announced that Stena Vinga, a 125-metre vessel with capacity for 400 people and 200 cars, would be used for sailings between Jersey and Portsmouth.
The Danish shipping giant is due to take over from incumbent operator Condor from 28 March 2025, with the Island’s new contract expected to be signed this week.
Guernsey, meanwhile, has chosen Condor’s parent company – Brittany Ferries – as its preferred operator.
Asked if potential schedule clashes on shared routes could be an issue, Mr Parker said: “Only in as much as it’s always an issue when you have more than one operator in a port, and Condor, as the existing operator, have grandfather rights on certain slots.
“We just have to work around that with the port, so that we can still operate.
“There’s certainly strong support from the St Malo port to work with us to find a way around where there are potential scheduling issues, but we just have to make sure that we are coming to the berth when Condor aren’t there and that we aren’t coming in and out at the same time.”
Mr Parker pointed out that the schedules could be refined after they were published “as demand dictates and opportunities present themselves”.
He stressed that DFDS understood the “lifeline” nature of providing services for the Island – and that freight had been a “key” consideration throughout the tender process.
“In terms of having capacity for the Island, that is something that we’ve worked through in the business case.”
The Danish shipping firm has also confirmed plans to set up a Jersey-route headquarters and that it is engaged in discussions to sign a lease for harbour offices.
“We want to have an operations director, we want a passenger director, we want to have a freight sales manager here, all in Jersey, so that each of these individual areas – all of which are hugely important – work smoothly and there is accountability and a route in.”
He encouraged Islanders who might be interested in a role within the firm’s Jersey operation next year to contact DFDS via email on jersey-jobenquiries@DFDS.com.
“Our HR team will be coming to Jersey in January and they will have a mini jobs-fair, just to field those inquiries because we obviously have a relatively short amount of time to get everything organised.”
