More than 200 passengers set off from St Helier on the ferry's maiden voyage with cars and passengers and the delay meant it got to St Malo slightly late.

The twice-daily service from Jersey and one crossing a day from Guernsey is running from March to September.

The company announced three months ago it was starting a service to France.

HD's marketing manager James Howe-Davies said he hoped engineers would solve the problem in Guernsey on Thursday afternoon.

"One of the engines wasn't able to start, we're only running on three engines at the moment so we're a little bit delayed."