He said ministers had voted informally, but by a large majority, to “abandon the previous process” and launch “a new rapid process” for a Jersey ferry operator.

The Economic Development Minister said DFDS’s offer was “clearly the better of the two, promising more investment in the fleet more quickly and a more stable society”.

However, he said the project had failed on a “technical and legal point”.

“A decision that I personally could not understand because the legal element remained to be negotiated but which I accepted,” he said.

Morel said it became clear that the other bidder in the process was Condor and not Brittany Ferries.

Brittany Ferries is the parent company of Condor.