Morel backs DFDS after call for retender of deal

Jersey's minister for sustainable economic development has backed DFDS after it was criticised over the reliability and cost of its lifeline freight service.

The Danish ferry firm began running passenger and freight sailings to Jersey on 28 March 2025, while Guernsey has since that date been served by Brittany Ferries.

Authorities in the two islands opted for different providers after a joint tender process failed to result in a unanimous decision.

In recent months, retailers and industry leaders have expressed concerns about DFDS's flat rate freight charging structure, disrupted deliveries and the addition of port dues to freight bills from January 2026.

In a submission to a scrutiny panel reviewing the island's ferry services, retailer Sandpiper CI said the contract signed between DFDS and the Government of Jersey should "be retendered, with both bidders treated on a level playing field".

"It is obvious common sense that one provider to both islands must be able to provide the best service at the cheapest possible price," it said.

Sandpiper claimed that the impact of the change in provider had been "an incremental increase in the price of food by 2%, solely down to increased ferry costs due to the introduction of flat rate fees."

It said that "further mooted cost increases" relating to port dues would result in further increases.

"These are not costs being borne in our Guernsey operations, serviced by Brittany Ferries," it said.

Sandpiper also described the flat rate fee as "a tax on food".

The retailer said: "As food is the biggest volume of goods that are imported to the island, the removal of volume discounts has by default impacted onto the cost of bringing food into the island and resulted in cost increases."

In response, DFDS said that its flat rate freight pricing model was "in line with, and in response to, the contract signed with the Government of Jersey".

It said that the pricing structure had been "an explicit requirement" of the Government of Jersey tender process, which had been implemented by the government "to provide certainty, transparency and long-term stability for freight customers serving the island".

Sandpiper also said in its submission that it had started to keep a "log of performance" after becoming concerned about the reliability of the daily lifeline ferry service, which it said had "significantly deteriorated" since DFDS began operating Jersey routes.

It claimed since then to have experienced 37 days of problems with deliveries, including 13 days of boat cancellations.

"It is worth underlining that every delay results in increased food waste due to diminished shelf life," it said.

"These are further costs which have to be covered.

"It's patently clear that the ferry service is not aligned in any way with the needs of business, residents or visitors."

In response, DFDS insisted that the resilience of Jersey's lifeline freight ferry services exceeded contractual requirements.

It accepted that periods of bad weather could "temporarily affect the island's supply chain", but said that it worked "closely and proactively" with freight forwarders to minimise any impact on essential supplies.

The ferry firm said the Caesarea Trader operated six dedicated freight rotations per week - with the MV Arrow in place as a "rarely required" back-up vessel - alongside five mixed freight and passenger rotations.

"In total, this delivers 11 rotations dedicated to Jersey," it said.

"With an average load factor of approximately 50%, there is significant spare capacity within the schedule, allowing for rapid catch-up and recovery of affected freight when disruption does occur."

"I'm very pleased with the replacement of the (MV) Arrow with Caesarea Trader," said Deputy Kirsten Morel, Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, while facing questions this week from the scrutiny panel.

"That's made a big difference to freight turnarounds and helped freight be on time, so freight is in a much better place now than it was when we had the Arrow."

He continued: "The fact that DFDS invested in the Caesarea Trader in order to move-on the Arrow - as the Arrow wasn't cutting the mustard, so to speak - I think again showed their commitment to the route.

"It has made a big difference to freight and it has meant that their freight sailings are now much better from a reliability and punctuality perspective as well."

Morel also addressed criticism of the suspension of DFDS's Tuesday sailings between Jersey and Portsmouth until Tuesday 7 April 2026 - a decision that Sandpiper had previously said would result in shortages on shelves.

He said he had learned from the situation.

"The mistake this time, I hold my hands up, was that DFDS came to us with that.

"It seemed like an understandable change from our perspective, and I asked them to go and consult afterwards," Morel said.

"What I've said now is I want that to be the other way around - so that consultation is done first and therefore impacts are minimised, whatever the change may be, a price rise or schedule change.

"What I'm really pleased with is that DFDS have reached out to stakeholders and they are coming back with a new proposal to help."

In a wide-ranging discussion, Morel also told the panel that following concerns about the availability of inter-island sailings, DFDS had proposed a Friday evening passenger and vehicle service from Jersey to Guernsey, then onto Portsmouth, using the Stena Vinga.

He said it was proposed that passengers would be able to disembark in Guernsey, but that Guernsey passengers would not be able to board for the journey to the UK.

Morel added that under the ferry firm's proposals, the vessel would then travel from Portsmouth to Guernsey on a Monday, with passengers given an opportunity to board in St Peter Port before travelling onwards to Jersey.

Guernsey's authorities would need to agree before it could be introduced.

Currently, Brittany Ferries operates a Wednesday passenger and vehicle service between Guernsey and Jersey.

DFDS ran an inter-island service on Mondays in the summer and Islands Unlimited ran a daily passenger service until September, which is due to resume in March.

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