French stevedores are disrupting Condor’s freight service between St Malo and the Channel Islands.
The ferry company was forced to cancel last Saturday’s service due to industrial action by dock workers at the French port, and could face further disruption. There are also concerns that ongoing industrial action could affect plans to resume passenger operations to Jersey from St Malo.
‘The situation is very frustrating for our freight clients and our St Malo team, who are working hard to find alternative arrangements, as it is not the first time services have been disrupted. Over the past three years, we have seen numerous examples of such unnecessary industrial action by the stevedores which has led us to delay or cancel freight and passenger sailings,’ said Elwyn Dop, Condor’s executive director – operations.
‘We are naturally very keen to restart sailings so we can support the inbound tourism market and provide travel options for Islanders. We can only hope that no furtherindustrial action is forthcoming.’
Commodore Goodwill operates year-round, weekly sailing to and from St Malo. On Saturday 23 May, stevedores employed by the company St Malo Manutention (SMM) refused to load trailers bound for Jersey, Guernsey and Portsmouth, without notice.
