Red Funnel is cancelling a number of early hours sailings on its East Cowes – Southampton vehicle ferry service for a 2-month period to enable terminal works, it has been announced. The works at the East Cowes terminal will feature an upgrade to the fendering system which allows the operator’s vessels to safely and securely berth. To allow specialist dive teams and on-site technicians to safely work uninterrupted, Red Funnel’s vehicle ferries will be unable to depart or arrive in East Cowes, which has led to the timetable adjustments. The cross-Solent operator has confirmed that the 23:55 and 03:00 sailings from Southampton, and the 01:30 sailing from East Cowes, will be cancelled on dates between 20th January and 20th March. There will also be disruption to the 22:30 from East Cowes and 04:00 from Southampton on a fewer number of dates across the 7-week period. In order to provide some element of connectivity during the works, additional late-night Red Jet crossings have been introduced on Saturday nights only, starting on 20th January and running until 16th March. This will depart Southampton at 23:40 and West Cowes at 00:15. Leanna Lakes, Operations Director at Red Funnel, said:
“The safety of passengers and crew remains our priority, and we continue to invest in regular maintenance work across our operation. “By completing the maintenance overnight and during our lower season, we have strived to impact the fewest number of customers as possible”.
All affected customers with existing bookings between 20th January and 20th March will be notified with information about their new crossing times shortly. Red Funnel will prioritise getting in touch with those customers travelling soonest.
