Red Funnel has been forced to cancel yet more of its hi-speed Red Jet sailings this rush hour due to further technical issues with Red Jet 7.
The vessel only re-entered full service this morning after an issue was found with one of the main engines.
Now, the cross-Solent operator has confirmed that the 18:15 crossing from Southampton and the 17:35 & 18:55 from West Cowes have been cancelled this evening.
It’s known that the failure is once again with the outer main engine on Red Jet 7.
Passengers have been told to check before they travel tomorrow as it’s unclear at this early stage whether Red Jet 7 will be back in operation on Thursday.
Red Funnel apologises for any inconvenience to your journey.
UPDATE @ 18:07 – A spokesperson for Red Funnel has said:
“Following a series of repairs and trials within the last 24 hours, Red Jet 7 has re-experienced a low fuel pressure alert on the port outer main engine this evening. This has required us to temporarily remove the vessel from service.
Article continues below this advertisement “The safety of our customers and colleagues is our number one priority and the 17:35 and 18:55 services from West Cowes, and 18:15 service from Southampton have been cancelled to allow for further investigation works and repairs”.
UPDATE @ 20:00 – It has now been confirmed that the 06:15, 07:35 and 08:55 crossings from Southampton and the 06:55, 08:15 and 09:35 crossings from West Cowes have now also been cancelled.
Repair works to Red Jet 7 are due to continue tomorrow morning.
A spokesperson for Red Funnel has said:
“We sincerely apologise for the disruption this will cause to passengers’ journeys and we are keeping customers updated through text alerts, social media updates and our live service status.
“Our engineers are working hard to get Red Jet 7 back in service as quickly as possible. We encourage customers to consider using our vehicle ferry service as an alternative option, which is currently running to timetable.”
If this were a competitive service its operators would be falling over themselves to assure passengers of their safety. RF don’t need to bother.
This Island will remain a remote and largely forgotten economic and cultural backwater whilst its residents are content to be loosely connected to the rest of the 21st century world by pirates operating (but only when mechanical and weather conditions permit) expensive and unreliable ferry operations more suited to the 19th century and before.
i can’t think of anywhere else in the world, both east and west, that would tolerate such a Luddite mentality.
you could see if the floating bridge could be used ooops running?