Thick fog around the coast of the Isle of Wight is once again causing disruption to cross-Solent services this morning (Tuesday), with Red Funnel suspending their vehicle ferry service entirely.
Red Funnel is advising that it’s Vehicle Ferry between East Cowes and Southampton is suspended until further notice due to the reduced visibility.
Cowes Harbour Master prevents large vessels from entering Cowes Harbour when the fog descends due to previous collisions involving Red Funnel’s ferries.
Although the Red Jet service continues to operate at this time, it is liable to delay or cancellation this morning.
Wightlink and Hovertravel are both currently operating to timetable.
A yellow weather warning for fog from IW Met Service is in force until 10:00 this morning.
UPDATE – Red Funnel’s vehicle ferry service has resumed, but with delays of 2 hours.
UPDATE – The service has now returned to a normal timetable.
red funnel has operated in and out of that harbour for many decades and on many foggy days in the past without incident, yet all of a sudden they cannot operate in fog, due to some collisions – why is that?
there has been plenty of foggy days since red funnel started up operations all those years ago and no incidents.
standards on the bridge dropped?
less crew on the bridge?
more clueless, small boat owners out in the fog when they shouldn’t be?
harbour overcrowded, making the margin for error less? – berthing and mooring fees are lucrative.
harbour master closes harbour, rather than removing overcrowded areas to ensure clear path
I don’t think you understand that they’re following the law. There is a whole company (MAIB) to ensure that after incidents happen, the chances of it happening again are reduced if not negated entirely. Blaming a company for following the law is clearly a lack competence and you shouldn’t comment on a field you don’t know about.
no seafarer – this is a failure of all concerned to address the issues they caused, as this was never an issue in the many decades beforehand
stop making excuses for poor decision making.
it is not the law that they shut down the service in fog – otherwise the entire UK ports/ferries and shipping industry would be shut down, as other incidents around the country have taken place in fog -roads aren’t closed because people crash cars in fog are they.
https://www.cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/local_notice_to_mariners_10_of_2021 This links proves your statements are incorrect. Educate yourself on the local area before commenting on it.
Still doesn’t justify closing it, when it was never closed in the previous numerous decades of operation
poor decisions are at the heart of this – weak laws designed to justify weak decision makers is pathetic.
Shut the thing down and build a bridge
Lol, you sir, just hate being wrong, about anything and everything.
Obviously you believe your own hype, but you are so focused on your own self importance that it is not healthy for you my friend.
Ps. Have you ever thought about becoming a police constable, you would be great. X
Is it a poor decision to try and conserve the life of crew, passengers and property? I believe not. Neither does the MAIB and MCA. Things improve as time goes on to become safer. If we didn’t learn from the mistake of the past “decades ago” we would still be living in caves.
As an ex-seafarer myself I’m with you on this one Seafarer.
99% of my job was to operate within safety regulations and to assist the master (as crewman) in complying with marine law whilst still providing a service to customers. All ships are very tightly bound by marine law and will not be able to operate if the slightest discrepancy in operation or within the SMS is discovered.
I hope this helps to explain things.
What are Red Funnel doing by way of working with the Harbour Master to overcome their concerns about the operation of Red Funnel Ferries in avoiding collisions in that area during low visibility.
Red Funnel used to be able to enter and leave the Cowes harbour when foggy, despite having radar, until a couple of fog related incidents fairly recently after which the authority that is the Harbour Master decreed that large vessels couldn’t enter or leave unless there was one cable length of visibility. This is about distance over the river between east and west Cowes. Without getting into the politics of fixed links and rip off fares please remember that if you choose to live on an island then these situations arise frequently and that it is not the fault of the staff who are employed and often get the brunt of travellers frustration.
Well said, l feel sorry for the staff it’s not their fault the powers that be cancel crossings
Hammar, not all choose to live on an Island some were born here and with few job opportunities along with the prohibitively ferry costs, it makes it extremely difficult to ever actually leave.
Agree totally Sam. It does feel sometimes that we are being held hostage. However the point that I’m making is that no matter what the politics are about how expensive the fares are and the argument about fixed links, please people don’t take it out on the hard pressed and often abused ground floor members of staff.
We live on an Island, we rely on 2 ferry companies to get us off this Island, they cannot control sickness for which they get hammered, they also cannot control the weather, but yes, they could have talks with Cowes Harbour Commission about the restrictions enforced with regard to movement in bad visibility, would it make a difference NO. At least the ferry was only out for 2 hours how long did we go without a chain ferry that has cost us millions!!!
All the problems started when Mcintosh mount or island was constructed changing the flow of the water in the harbour/river. This was just for the benefit of the moorings in the harbour. As for the restrictions in foggy conditions this decision was made by Cowes Harbour Commission with no regards to Red Funnel or any other organisation
You are absolutely correct. The problems definitely started with the construction of the breakwater and the consequences that even the most uneducated people could see (build some sort of dam and water flows faster around it) so therefore the problems with boats is that they don’t respond as normal. I’m guessing that the problem that started all this was lack of experience with this and tides so now we are paying the price for someone’s stupidity. Don’t blame the staff on the ground but the knee jerk reaction that has caused this.