HD Ferries
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HD Ferries is a fast catamaran Channel Islands service between Jersey, Guernsey and Brittany. HD Ferries has daily departures (six crossings per day; average crossing time per leg of just one hour) from the port of Saint Helier (Jersey) to St Peter Port (Guernsey) and then to St Malo.
HD Ferries was established in January 2007 following the cessation of Emeraude Lines in November 2005. The States of Jersey, States of Guernsey and Regional Council of Brittany required an additional ferry service to meet the demand for passenger and freight travel between the Channel Islands and France.
The HD Ferries vessel named HD1 is an Incat K series which is a high speed catamaran with top speeds of 45 knots. The HD1 vessel can support 400 passengers, 100 cars or 70 cars and 10 freight vehicles.
The Channel Islands have maritime links to a number of ports in the UK including Portsmouth, Poole, and Weymouth and in France including St Malo, Granville and Barneville-Carteret. The main ferry operator used to be the Channel Island Ferries service which was established in 1984 by Brittany Ferries and Huelin Renouf. Channel Island Ferries offered an initial sailing between Portsmouth], Jersey and Guernsey and took a substantial amount of business from its main competitor Sealink Ferries. The British Channel Island Ferries (BCIF) service ceased operations in 1994 and saw Condor Ferries take over its Channel Islands service from Poole. Over the next few years Condor Ferries began to build their Channel Island service with the introduction of new vessels and routes; however they faced many technical problems which finally led to the Channel Island governments putting the service out to tender. Condor Ferries managed to retain the licence and soon retained a monopoly over the Channel Islands. The only competition to Condor Ferries had been the Emeraude Lines service between Jersey and St Malo however the company suspended the service in November 2005 due to financial difficulties and technical issues with its vessel. Emeraude Lines also sustained heavy losses on its Jersey to St Malo route mainly due to the opening of Condor Ferries new route. Since the cessation of the Emeraude Lines ferry service the governments of the Channel Islands and Brittany have been keen to provide an additional service in line with Condor Ferries to meet the rising demand by passengers for travel between the Channel Islands and France.
