The Cowes Floating Bridge service has been suspended this evening (Saturday) as a result of the vessel running aground.
Island Echo understands vehicles have had to be reversed off Floating Bridge No.6 as a result of the tide dropping before the chain ferry could depart East Cowes.
It’s expected to be hours before the tide turns and the floating bridge re-floats.
A foot passenger launch is currently not in operation.
An Island Echo reader who was onboard the Floating Bridge when it became grounded has said:
“I’m pretty sure the problem lies with the much slower turnaround time it now takes when the service is busy. Whereas it used to take 15 minutes a journey, it’s now 25+minutes – due to modern health and safety protocols.
”I’m not against these but they do make it very difficult for the operators to land the chain ferry, offload passengers, then cars, then load cars and finally passengers, all on a fast falling tide.
“I don’t know what the answer is but I’m sure its a problem that won’t go away”.
This used to happen with every other floating bridge too nothing new,don’t think it needs knocking this instance
Will the signage say ‘Normal service operating’?
Excellent timing as always !
If they did not take so long to load and reload about 25 mins and then standing around chatting . They should have been watching the tide this would not of happened. Would like to say ticket collector on cowes side has done an amazing job so have the water taxis
Good grief!! It gets worse! Had no-one twigged that the tide was on the ebb?? Hope someone sues them!
Oh what a surprise!!!! I wonder just when it will work efficiently!!
it will never work efficiently this has been designed and built wrong and the council are fully aware of this error
Surprised?
Not really!
Excellent. Well done all concerned. Now the high and mighty can see what we, the residents who are forced to pay for this fiasco, have to put up with.
Ha ha ha. You couldn’t make this stuff up!!!!!!
Getting more use out of the swanky electric signs though.
That’s OK council made over 5 million on parking tickets they can waste it on repairs instead of a swing bridge like yarmouth
What a surprise.. This Island is run by The Chuckle Brither
I really do not understand what is happening.. Totally mismanagement of the entire situation.
Just absolutely daft. Unbelievable in fact
this council will not tell you the Truth .this floating bridge should be dumped rate payers are just peed off
Couldn’t make it up could you? When I used it this morning, dozens of people were simply walking on without paying while the staff were taking ages to swipe people’s cards and print tickets, so the council policy of refusing to accept cash is costing us all a fortune. And they have the cheek to criticize Wightlink for not accepting cash…
I can remember, a long time ago, as you walked on you tossed your coin into the the ticket collectors bucket. But then you have to accept cash for that!
Err we go, err we go………again!!! Not a breakdown but this thing really doesn’t have any luck does it!!! It’s jinxed.
couldn’t make it up..
What a great comedy series the Floating Bridge would make on television.
Starting with spending millions on rubbish and then employing children from the local school
to operate it.
What would the series be called, – “The Wight Elephant” perhaps? – A 6 part docu-drama, shown over 32 weeks, tide permitting! (Broadcast schedule subject to change/cancellation).
An embarrassment for the Island now.
Ceased being funny.
Third world countries have more reliable transportation.
Clearly still not fit for purpose, just like the Council themselves.
Both need replacing with something better, which shouldn’t be too hard
How comes its seems more unworthy, when its needed more importantly like xmas,easter,school holidays ect
The ninth wonder of the Isle of Wight.
The gift that continues to give.
I won’t be too hard on them, as it was an accident, but with the Council spending £90,000 on spare parts, can this constant farce of them never working come to an end?
£90,000 should come out of the counsellors pocket and not our rates ,maybe they will then consider wasting our money
Don’t forget the 1 Million over 7 years for a boat to push the thing when the tide is strong.
You couldn’t make this up, tow it out into the Solent, put all the councillors on it, and sink the bloody thing. Enough is Enough.
I travel to work daily and lose about 40 mins of my life waiting for bridge . So not really surprised that this has happened again. The staff spend to much time chatting and smoking on occasions. Boat was so much faster . Well done folly river taxis
Along with all the grossly overpaid desk jockeys in County Hall, the know everythings brigade. Totally useless.
i agree ,i have been saying this from day one ,they wont listen to the ratepayers ,unless now the rate payers will refuse to pay for this wight elephant in their rates ,maybe they will listen.
Better off as scrap least it will become something else like a new car or some tins of Hinze bake beens a lot more useful
What a load of prats
You dont have to be a master mariner to realise if you spend too long waiting aound either side on a ebb tide the it will drop while you drink tea and have a chat about crap.
Pay peanuts, get monleys. Never happened when I worked on the bridge.
Don’t worry they’ve got £ 90,000 coming from council soon that should sort out any problems the sea should give them
Correction to your figure it is 1 million and 90 thousand, the 1 is for a 7 year contract to push the thing during strong tides, and 90K for spare parts. No doubt the Council Tax will take a massive hike again.
It does need knocking, the service is rubbish. The staff are idle. They insist on taking money on shore for pedestrians, which when there’s a queue of 50 people takes time. Also they try and get as many cars on as possible before leaving which takes time. If they took passenger fares on board and got a selection of cars on, then left asap the service wouldn’t ever run aground. There is zero forethought from the staff. I’ve seen them jostle the cars on like red funnel, trying to squeeze a final couple on. They don’t need to, just go and come back quicker.
Perhaps it could be made a tourist attraction – Ryde, where you walk, Freshwater you cannot drink, the Floating bridge that doesn’t! Lol.
Love it.
Plus the fact that you have to go up to the Downs – but that is a Southern England problem as well
They should play Derek sandy’s ‘welcome to the isle of shyte’ at the ferry ports.
Why not invest in wheels for it as that would solve the problem.
here we go again. becoming too repetitive island echo. They should just build a bridge instead of that non floating piece of s***
Privatise it…. and let someone run it like a business…… Someone that is an islander and knows what it means to commute between both sides!
It would make no difference who ran it, the thing is utterly unfit for purpose and wil never work properly no matter how much of other peoples money is thrown at it.