Red Funnel will be operating a reduced car ferry service for the foreseeable future due to the unexpected removal of Red Eagle from service, it has been announced this evening (Friday).
As previously reported by Island Echo, the accidental lowering of the vessel’s anchor has resulted in damage. Red Eagle was taken out of service yesterday and therefore the East Cowes to Southampton route has been running with cancellations since.
It has now been confirmed that a number of sailings have been cancelled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday followed by a switch to the winter timetable on Tuesday (15th October) – 3 weeks earlier than planned.
Fran Collins, Red Funnel’s CEO, has said:
“Whilst our initial inspections of Red Eagle showed only minor cosmetic damage resulting from the loss of one of her two anchors during the approach to Cowes Harbour on 1st October, we are very to sorry to report that a more detailed internal inspection of the ship’s Aft Voith Propulsion Unit has revealed additional damaged to the gear linkages.
“Unfortunately, this means that Red Eagle must be withdrawn from service to permit repairs which will be undertaken in dry-dock and combined with her winter refit to minimise disruption to our customers.
“Therefore, the cancelled sailings for today will remain in effect, and the following Red Eagle sailings for the coming weekend through Monday are also now cancelled”.
Cancelled Crossings – Red Funnel
Saturday 12th October 2019
05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:15. Southampton to East Cowes
06:30, 09:30, 12:30, 15:30, 18:30, 21:45. East Cowes to Southampton
Sunday 13th October 2019
05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:15. Southampton to East Cowes
06:30, 09:30, 12:30, 15:30, 18:30, 21:45. East Cowes to Southampton
Monday 14th October 2019
05:00, 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:15. Southampton to East Cowes
06:30, 09:30, 12:30, 15:30, 18:30, 21:45. East Cowes to Southampton
Winter Timetable – from Tuesday 15th October
The winter timetable from Tuesday will be as follows:
You can download the winter timetable here.
Fran has continued by saying:
“We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this unexpected situation has caused for our customers, and we thank everyone for their patience.
“Our booking and scheduling teams are busy making adjustments and will be contacting customers with affected bookings via text and email in due course.
“We will also continually assess the opportunity to leverage our freight-only ferry, Red Kestrel to make additional freight crossings should the need to add more space for vehicles on Red Falcon and Red Osprey arise. At this time, we do not believe that additional Kestrel sailings beyond the normal schedule would provide any extra benefit over the weekend as we except to have enough capacity to accommodate passenger vehicle bookings.
“We would also like to encourage customers travelling with us to check the service status on our website (www.redfunnel.co.uk/service) , to follow our Red Funnel Travel news page on Twitter @RF_Travel_News and to sign up to receive text alerts.”
If you are frustrated buy how the islands people are being treated and how the actions of the ferry companies is creating a rift in the community then may I suggest it’s time for a change in government. If you agree, then vote Brexit Party. Please join the local face book page if you agree. And lets get reliable, frequent and fair priced ferry travel to the mainland so that a fixed link is not even a question. https://www.facebook.com/groups/brexitpartyisleofwight/
What a totally stupid and irrelevant comment!!
“irrelevant”?? Err, how? The comment is about how frustrating it is that the ferry companies are treating the islands people with contempt, and this story is an example. And the comment also suggests a way to get your voice heard. The comment IS on topic and IS relevant. What part do you consider “irrelevant”??? Please enlighten me.
What on Earth has Brexit got to do with an incident on a Red Funnel ferry??!!!!
Brexit has nothing to do with it – you are right. But the Brexit Party is a political party that encompasses more than Brexit per se… Since the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems seem to be absolutely hopeless, (except the Tories keep stealing the ideas of UKIP and the Brexit Party), why not go for a change?
How are the ferry companies “treating the island people with contempt” over an unfortunate and isolated incident that has caused damage requiring the ship to be taken out of service? Sh*t happens, get over it!
Couldn’t agree more on this point.
I booked a Red Funnel ferry at 8.30am on 25 October and tried to change when the winter timetable came in at 9am. What a surprise – that ferry is already cancelled too – choice between 7.30am and 10.30am. Not happy – check your advance bookings!