UPDATED: The troubled Cowes Floating Bridge is to remain out of action until at least Wednesday following Friday’s prow chain issue.
The East Cowes to Cowes service was brought to a halt at around 19:00 when 1 of 2 chains used to raise and lower Floating Bridge No. 6’s ramp broke.
The incident is said to have happened mid-crossing, but the vessel managed to make it to Cowes where it now sits with an obvious issue to the starboard side (looking on).
It was initially hoped that a normal timetabled service would resume tomorrow morning, but the Isle of Wight Council have now said the service won’t return until at least Wednesday – possibly later.
A passenger launch is in operation from 05:00 until 22:30 daily whilst the floating bridge is out of service.
UPDATE MONDAY – The Isle of Wight Council have finally commented on Friday’s incident.
It has been confirmed that the south west chain, which is part of the operating mechanism for the prow, failed. This incident is not linked to the depth chain testing, which had been taking place on Thursday and Friday.
important to remember that we are still in commissioning trials.
A spokesperson has said:
“Whilst the incident occurred when the vessel was moving from Cowes to East Cowes, the prow itself was held in place by the north west chain and the crew were able to dock the vessel safely and allow all foot passengers and vehicles to disembark.
“An engineer attended site within 30 minutes of the incident occurring and attached a temporary strop to secure the south side of the prow. However, due to the strain on the remaining chain the decision was taken to immediately suspend the service.
“The floating bridge has been taken out of service and a replacement launch service provided Friday night and over the weekend and will continue this week until further notice. All roadside signs have been updated. The replacement launch has been booked daily from 05.00 to 22.30 and this will remain the case until the vessel is back in service.
“The ferry builders/engineers were contacted Friday evening and they arranged for spares to be delivered to the council over the weekend with works commencing on site today (Monday) to repair the breakage.
“The Maritime and Coastguard Agency have been advised and they have confirmed that they do not need to inspect either the failed components or the works when they are completed”.
“Whilst work has commenced, the vessel is unlikely to return to service until later this week as it will be subject to fitting all necessary spares and testing. We will provide updates on this throughout the week”.
