CROSS-SOLENT CANCELLATIONS ON BOTH WIGHTLINK AND RED FUNNEL SERVICES

Those crossing the Solent with both Wightlink and Red Funnel are facing disruption this morning (Thursday) due to a lack of staff and technical failures. Wightlink pulled their early morning Fast Cat for reasons unknown, although the cross-Solent operator has now confirmed changes at its Portsmouth Harbour terminal. It’s said that to allow for ‘essential maintenance’ boarding and disembarking processes will change today. All customers will have to navigate a steep slope and a small number of steps, instead of the usual step-free ramped access. It’s not been a great morning for Wightlink as the 07:40 sailing from Fishbourne to Portsmouth Gunwharf was cancelled due to the absence of an essential member of the crew. Red Funnel is once again experiencing technical issues on its hi-speed Red Jet service, for the second day in a row. The 07:50 Red Jet from Southampton and the 08:25 from West Cowes have both been pulled due to a technical issue with the cooling system on the port generator of Red Jet 7. The firm says the service is running with delays of around 30 minutes.