MV ''Islander'' is a

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

operated by

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France, England, Ireland, Spain and the ...

on routes connecting

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Built in 2005 as the ''MS Dueodde'' for Bornholmstrafikken, she has since seen service with

StraitNZ StraitNZ, formerly Strait Shipping, is a New Zealand transport firm that operates roll-on/roll-off freight and passenger shipping across Cook Strait between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island, and trucking and logisti ...

as ''MV Straitsman'' in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

between 2010 and 2023, before being sold to

Condor Ferries Condor Ferries was an operator of passenger and freight ferry services between the United Kingdom, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey, Jersey and France. History Condor Ferries was formed in 1964 by Channel Island businessme ...

as ''Condor Islander.'' The vessel was renamed ''Islander'' in 2025, following the company's majority takeover by Brittany Ferries.

History

''Islander'' was built in the style of Van der Giessen de Noord's vessels, alongside her sister ship ''Hammerodde'', now named .

Bornholmstrafikken

''Islander'' entered service with Bornholmstrafikken in 2005 as MS ''Dueodde''. Alongside ''Hammerodde'', she operated routes linking

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

with the rest of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

StraitNZ

In 2010, the vessel was sold and shortly entered service with

and was renamed MV ''Straitsman'' in recognition of StraitNZ's first vessel, which was in service for 11 years from when the company first launched in 1992.

Condor Ferries

In March 2023, it was confirmed that the vessel had been secured by

services between

and the

. Shortly afterward, it was announced that the vessel would be renamed as ''Condor Islander''. The ferry was purchased in a joint venture between Condor and the

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...

. In July 2023, the vessel arrived in the Channel Islands after several weeks in a dry dock in

El Astillero El Astillero (English: "The Shipyard") is a town and municipality in the province and autonomous community of Cantabria, northern Spain. It is near the provincial capital of Santander, Cantabria, Santander, and it is known for its shipyard, and for ...

, in the north of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Following refurbishment, she entered service in October 2023.

Brittany Ferries

Following Condor's majority take-over by Brittany Ferries in 2024 and a new 15-year contract agreement with Guernsey, the Condor prefix was dropped from ''Islander's'' name, and the vessel was rebranded into a Brittany Ferries livery in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, Poland.

Accidents and issues in service

StraitNZ

*In July 2016, a truck and B-train trailer unit aboard the ''Straitsman'' snapped its lashings and fell overboard off the coast of

Island Bay Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore i ...

. *On 24 February 2023, a crewmember was hit by a truck reversing onboard at Wellington, causing delays. The crewmember suffered bruising and a broken wrist.

Condor Ferries

* Upon introduction to the Condor fleet, the first sailing for ''Condor Islander'' was scheduled to take place in November 2023 however, it was brought forward to October 2023 with freight services starting on the 8th and both passenger and freight services on the 15th. It was then pushed back again to 20 October 2023 because of the late installation of vital equipment. *Due to the conditions of

Storm Babet Storm Babet (known as Storm Viktor in Germany) was an intense extratropical cyclone which affected large parts of northern and western Europe. The second named storm of the 2023–24 European windstorm season, Babet was named by the UK's Met Of ...

, ''Condor Islander's'' first sailing with passengers on 20 October 2023 was canceled and pushed back to the 22rd of the same month. *On 23 October 2023, the inter-island service from

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

was canceled due to technical problems. The sailing onto

departed from Guernsey instead, much earlier than anticipated *On 25 October 2023, it was discovered that there were faults with the front bow thrusters of the ship and that they would need repairing. It was announced that the vessel would be pulled out of service until 2 November of the same year and all scheduled sailings were canceled. *On 3 July 2024, ''Condor Islander'' came into contact with one of the Saint Helier Harbour walls during strong winds, upon arrival in Jersey. The vessel remained in the harbour overnight before continuing its sailing onto Guernsey. There was recorded damage to both the ''Condor Islander'' and the east berth of the harbour.

References

External links

Strait Shipping - Straitsman information
Cook Strait ferries 2005 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Ferries of Guernsey

Ferry companies of the Channel Islands A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

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