14th May 2007
Captain is suspended after Condor collision
An HD Ferries captain was suspended after his catamaran collided with a vessel from rival Condor Ferries. He later resigned. No passengers had been aboard at the time but it was an unfortunate incident for HD Ferries, which had only started running its service between the Channel Islands and France two months earlier.
Tricky beginnings
The service had got off to a difficult start, with the first crossing from St Helier suffering engine problems, delaying its arrival when it made the journey on just three of its four engines. On its second day, it cancelled a crossing, and offered passengers a refund, or tickets for Condor. On the fourth day, it cancelled crossings from Guernsey because of the height of the waves, and the following day all crossings from both Guernsey and Jersey were cancelled for the same reason.
The 14 May collision wasn’t the only coming together that HD Ferries and Condor suffered that year, either. Just over two months later, an HD Ferries vessel was coming into port at St Helier, this time with passengers aboard, when it struck a Condor vessel that was loading passengers for a crossing to the mainland.
The Condor ferry was only scratched but the HD Ferries vessel was holed in several places. The holes were above the waterline, so there was no imminent danger of sinking, but it put the vessel – HD1 – out of action until a repair could be actioned.
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Other events that occured in May
A jilted lover shoots his bride to be (or was she his wife?)
- Francis Caillot, a town crier and boot maker, was convicted of murder and was transported to Tasmania as punishment.
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France fails to invade Jersey
- France sent five large ships to St Ouen in an effort to invade Jersey in 1779, but they were spotted before they could land.
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The 95th Regiment of Foot is disbanded
- The 95th Regiment of Foot was founded on 23 July 1779 when France entered the American War of Independence on America’s side.
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Lillie Langtry and the Prince of Wales begin their affair
- Lillie Langtry first met King Edward VII at a dinner. He was still plain Bertie, then and had specifically asked that she sit with him.
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