The troublesome Floating Bridge service between East Cowes and Cowes will be suspended later this morning (Monday) to enable urgent repair work, the Isle of Wight Council has confirmed.
Floating Bridge No.6 will be out of action for 2-and-a-half hours between 09:30 and 12:00. During this time a launch service for foot passengers will be in operation.
It comes just a week before the ferry is let off the chains and hauled across to Wight Shipyard before then being taken to Falmouth for a 5-yearly safety inspection.
The inspection – a legal requirement carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency – will see the Floating Bridge service halted between 7th March and 22nd April, as previously reported by Island Echo.
6 week inspection?? Bet it doesn’t take that long for a cruise ship…..
…but a cruise ship you could understand a 6 week timescale, it’s outrageous that this tiny vessel could take 6 weeks to inspect. I totally agree, that’s an inconceivable amount of time for such a small vessel.
Cunard can repaint the hill and everything above the water line and fit new carpets quicker
my guess they are doing other repairs but do not want the ratepayers to no about ,through fear of an all time embarrassment on I.O.W Council ,lets see just how long after this has had a 5 year safty inspection will it breakdown.?
What happened to the £35000 a year we pay to the maintenance engineer?
if it breaks down again we can save this money and give it to the care homes
What needs suspending is the council, pending a full investigation into them. All of them.
. Who foots the bill for the cost of towing FB6 to Falmouth plus cost of inspection? No money in the coffers from FB revenue. Poor long suffering council tax payers. While at A&B shipyards they should sneak it up river and swap it for the King Harry ferry which clanks its way reliably across the Fal…and only has a week or so out each year for mainteance and inspection.
Safety inspection it’s never been fit for purpose. Our council certainly knows how to waste money. As Ann Smith says get all the councillors responsible to pull it round to cliftongrade
Not only the councillors but also the desk (in) operatives inhabitating county hall. No wonder Metcalfe is on the move, been found out at last?
This thing is as useless as island roads.
I think that you are getting a bit carried away there. At least it works some of the time.
jobsy i agree with you entirely on that
don,t even go there with them total bobgeing …ts
Surely with all the repairs it’s had it should not need an inspection!!!! It has been turned inside out after all !!!!! And it still is a pile of junk …. do they really need to waste our money to tell us what we already know ???? Not fit for purpose ….
It should just be sunk ……
Do us all a favour and save us cash cow’s a beep fortune !!!!!!!
This is getting beyond a joke, it should be scrapped now. I feel so sorry for the staff that work on this piece of junk, they must dread going to work each day. What an absolute waste of money. Sink it in the Solent with all the useless Council Staff on it.
not even funny anymore! 🙁 🙁 🙁
Its another busted hinge ..
Hopefully when its being towed to Falmouth the chain breaks and the thing will sink into the briney for ever
We can all wish that it sinks while being towed to Falmouth and how much is that going to cost there must be a ship yard closer who can do it
yes – a massive naval base in portsmouth with plenty of empty dry docks
One week to test the rubbish. Next 5 weeks, painting lipstick on a pig.
Here is an opportunity for the council to do the right thing for once and refuse to allow the pile of junk back, surely enough is enough this useless pile of junk is costing the ratepayers thousands when we are being hammered by increases in everything.
Hopefully, once removed from the chains it will sink without trace on its way to the dry dock. Time to replace it with a much more sensible underpass that can be used 24/7 and won’t be affected by tides or river traffic.
Why does it have to be a chain ferry, why not a similar vessel using Bow thrusters
Yer, we should ask to borrow one of the Gosport ferries ? Good thinking miss Angry.
We used to live near Dartmouth and the chain ferry was never out of action for anything like this period of time. From memory the ferry’s annual refit would take about 2 weeks.
same with the Sandbanks ferry.
The council should look at the King Harry ferry and then look at nonfloaty mcredface? I think the only thing they have in common is the term chain ferry!
Aside from that, one has always worked well and one has never worked well at all.
Chain ferries can and do work well in this country, it seems just the island that has issues? Clue there I think.
Maybe we should rename the local one King Kon.
Can’t they inspect it in Cowes? Still I suppose that would be too cheap for the council.
Again and again,useless bunch a Twonkers running this shambles ,should be named and shamed.
Hopefully it will sink on it’s way to Falmouth.
Has it ever run for 6 weeks
Hopefully it’ll sink whilst under tow
You must be takeing the f..kgpss Falmouth???? for 6 weeks???????????????? so no one here can look at it and see its a piece of ..it its only just gone back in service if you can call it that, how much has this turd cost the island.i bloody well hope to god it sinks and we can finaley be rid of the piece of …it
please please please sink ….id expect it couldn,t even do the right…but lets hope there is a god..