Hundreds of passengers were left stranded mid-Solent this afternoon (Monday) after an engine failed on board one of Wightlink’s Yarmouth to Lymington ferries, the second incident on the West Wight route in as many days.
The 16:05 sailing from Yarmouth experienced technical problems as it was leaving port at around 16:20, with readers reporting hearing a loud bang – believed to be the vessel colliding with fenders alongside the dock.
The troubled cross-Solent company say the ship’s captain safely stopped the vessel ‘Wight Light’ at the end of the pier for a short while before moving off.
The modern ferry came to a stop mid-Solent whilst engineers worked to resolve the issue and around an hour later, the ferry was on its way to Lymington as planned, however the ferry did not dock at Lymington umtil around 18:00.
Those on board the ferry at the time were told a forward engine had failed and were given free refreshments.
Yesterday, a propulsion failure on board the sister ship Wight Sun resulted in the car ferry colliding with a small boat and a navigational post, as reported by Island Echo.
Photo: Alwyn Ladell
