Red Funnel’s hi-speed service is down to just 1 vessel as a result of an engine failure on Red Jet 4, which means a number of crucial sailings have been cancelled for Tuesday.
Things are going from bad to worse for the cross-Solent operator that has been plagued by issues in recent weeks, from staff shortages on the Red Jet route to the withdrawal of Red Falcon from service.
It was only this morning that Island Echo reported on a number of cancellations due to staff being off work. This article was updated this afternoon to mention the engine troubles of Red Jet 4, which had to be towed back to Southampton.
It has been confirmed that the 06:15, 07:35 and 08:55 sailings from Southampton have been cancelled tomorrow as well as the 06:55, 08:15 and 09:35 sailings from West Cowes.
It’s said that the failure of the starboard forward main engine on Red Jet 4 – which was standing in for Red Jet 7 during annual maintenance – is to blame.
UPDATE – Red Jet passengers can now expect delays for the next 3 days.
Leanna Lakes, Operations Director at Red Funnel, has said:
“On Monday, Red Jet 4 was removed from service after high pressure alarms were activated on the starboard engine. To provide certainty for passengers making travel arrangements this week, we will be extending our reduced timetable. During this period, our specialist marine contractors and engineers will be undertaking a full investigation, working hard to resolve the issue. We will continue to keep passengers updated as the investigation works progress.
Article continues below this advertisement “Red Jet 7 is currently undergoing an annual refit and is due to return to service on the 23rd February.
“We apologise for any difficulties this may have caused to customer journeys and are working towards resuming our normal timetable as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Scheduled Red Jet sailings for Tuesday 25th, Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th January are now as follows:
From Southampton: 05:35, 06:55, 08:15, 09:35, 10:55, 12:15, 13:35, 14:55, 16:15, 17:35, 18:55, 20:15, 21:35, 22:55
From West Cowes: 06:15, 07:35, 08:55, 10:15, 11:35, 12:55, 14:15, 15:35, 16:55, 18:15, 19:35, 20:55, 22:15, 23:35
its just trying its best bless it
Oh what a shit service ….really
I reckon staff shortages was just an excuse to start with
What happened to Red Jet 6 and 7 ?
It says quite clearly in the article that Red Jet 7 is out for maintenance. I don’t know about Red Jet 6 though. Is it the alternate crossing with Red Jet 4 (when RJ4 was running)?
Why don’t they just admit they’re not getting enough bookings to make it profitable.