A £50,000, 6-month-long report into the troubled Cowes Floating Bridge has concluded that 2 major issues persist with the vessel – but it’s said that they may not be able to be fixed. Speaking at a meeting last week, Colin Rowland, the Isle of Wight Council’s director for Community Services, said the constraints of the current Floating Bridge 6 don’t ‘necessarily allow for any major modification’ which would change the operational performance of the vessel. In short, there may be no easy fix to the troubled Floating Bridge. The staggering news comes after a 6-month review of the ‘2 remaining issues’ of the vessel came to an end. The issues include the failure to operate in all tides while maintaining the necessary chain clearance and the speed of loading and unloading the vessel while needing to keep vehicles, foot passengers and cyclists separate. Council leader, Councillor Phil Jordan, also the cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, has said the report lays out some “difficulties that make the efficiency of the vessel difficult to improve on”. He said:
“It does not mean, necessarily the mechanical performance but on the operating efficiency.”
The Floating Bridge 6 has been plagued with technical issues since it was put into action in 2017 and the review, which cost the council £47,520, aimed to look for solutions. Its publication has been delayed, however, so future options for the service can be considered and published at the same time. It has been suggested that a new, electric Floating Bridge could be built. Despite some ongoing issues, Cllr Jordan highlighted that apart from planned maintenance, the Floating Bridge has operated around 97% of its scheduled hours in the past year, thanks to previous mechanical modifications. He said while the vessel has and will always require maintenance and repairs, it had not continually broken down during 2023. Cllr Jordan said:
“Confidence in using the Floating Bridge has returned, numbers of passengers are up and the electronic boards have all helped to deliver a more reliable service. “That said, the council is being advised of potential improvements to the operating method and service and they will include options that may suggest a completely new method and include provision of an alternative vessel, [which] almost certainly would be considered as electric powered. “There is no intention not to facilitate vehicle crossings on a Floating Bridge vessel.”
