Wightlink has brought in a charter vessel to operate multiple FastCat sailings between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier Head this evening (Friday) due to unexpected crew sickness.
The operator has confirmed that 7 services are being covered by a chartered boat after it was unable to arrange cover for absent crew at short notice.
The affected sailings are:
- From Portsmouth Harbour: 17:15, 18:15, 19:20 and 20:20
- From Ryde Pier Head: 17:45, 18:45 and 19:47
In addition to the revised operations, the 20:52 sailing from Ryde Pier Head has been cancelled.
Wightlink says all other services will operate as scheduled, and that customers with bookings on affected crossings have been contacted and rebooked.
The ferry firm has apologised for the disruption and thanked passengers for their patience, stating the use of a charter vessel was a last resort to maintain as much of the timetable as possible.
Live travel updates are available at www.wightlink.co.uk/updates.
Unexpected crew sickness= we need to sor our christmas shopping out.
Dear lord, more issues.
Have they only got enough for 2 crews?
Whatever happened to the two running ferries and crew to cope?
Cut to the bone in the name of PROFIT!
This is what happens when you pare down staffing to the bone leaving no margin for unexpected absences
Absolute joke of a service……tunnel now
A tunnel is long overdue
So how come a charter vessel, which presumably doesn’t operate a regular service (other wise it wouldn’t be available for charter) manages to have crew available, but wightlink doesn’t??
Surely it would be more cost effective for wightlink to have replacement crew on standby, than to charter an alternative vessel AND crew instead…