One of Bluebridge’s ferries is heading overseas after a summer of cancellations for the ferry service.

The Straitsman will sail over to Jersey to be used between Guernsey, Jersey, the United Kingdom and France.

A Jersey Evening Post article said the ship will be renamed and undertake berthing trials in Guernsey and Jersey later this year before entering regular service.

John Napton, chief executive of Condor ferries - the company which has purchased the Straitsman - said there is a “considerable amount of work” to be done before the ship enters services in the UK.

The Cook Strait crossings, run by Bluebridge and Interislander, have been thrown into disarray since late January with many of the ferries being struck down with engine issues or other problems.

Bluebridge had issues with two of its ships – the Connemara and the Strait Feronia.

The Feronia was sent to Sydney in February for its scheduled dry dock and is due back at the end of March, meaning sailings until then are even more restricted.

The resulting cancellations mean thousands of passengers have been left stranded, with some forking out hundreds of dollars for flights and others having to seek medium-term accommodation until another sailing became available over the busy summer schedule.

The Connemara then encountered trouble on the way to Picton last month, when an engine issue forced sailings to be cancelled leaving even more people stranded, as there was no capacity on the other sailings.

NZME has contacted Bluebridge for further comment.

• Calls for investigation after Interislander ferry fault
• Interislander ferry suffers second mechanical issue in as many weeks
• Interislander ferry turns back after medical event on board
• Interislander ferry loses power in Cook Strait, declares mayday