Those travelling across the Solent with Red Funnel face continued disruption today (Friday) with a revised timetable on the hi-speed Red Jet service, which has returned to operation with just 1 vessel.
Yesterday, the West Cowes-Southampton service was suspended in its entirety when a fracture was discovered on Red Jet 6 – whilst Red Jet 7 was already out of service with engine troubles.
It has now been confirmed that the service will resume from Southampton at 08:15 this morning with Red Jet 6 following successful repairs overnight. The Jet has been unable to run any early morning services as it has been awaiting regulatory approval.
Red Funnel says that the Red Jet 7 engine repairs are ongoing with the support of an external marine engineering specialist.
The following sailings have been cancelled today:
From Southampton: 05:35, 06:15, 06:55, 07:35, 08:55, 16:55 and 18:15
From West Cowes: 06:15, 06:55, 07:35, 08:15, 09:35, 17:35 and 18:55
UPDATE @ 08:22 – It has now been confirmed that the 08:15, 09:35 and 10:55 sailings from Southampton have also been cancelled, alongside the 08:55, 10:15 and 11:25 from West Cowes.
Leanna Lakes, Operations Director, says:
“I would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption this has caused. We know that we provide essential travel for many customers’, and we understand the importance of providing an efficient service. We are continuing to work hard to ensure normal service can resume and we will continue to keep customers updated through text alerts, social media updates and our live service status. Our vehicle service is running to timetable.”
Meanwhile, Red Osprey has returned to service following yesterday’s fire – but no food will be available on board today.
As first reported by Island Echo, a chip pan fire broke out in the galley of Red Osprey yesterday afternoon. A large-scale emergency response was initiated and passengers were told to don their lifejackets.
The vehicle ferry service between East Cowes and Southampton is now running to timetable.
Leanna adds:
“We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused and thank our customers for their patience and cooperation as our team undertook the required safety procedures.
“As part of our rigorous health and safety protocols, we are undertaking a full investigation. We would like to thank the emergency services for attending and our team who managed the incident quickly and safely, using the on-board suppression system to extinguish the fire. Our teams undergo extensive training to equip them to manage situations of this nature, including the use of suppression systems which extinguish fires using a wet chemical.
“Due to the incident, hot food will not be available on-board Red Osprey on Friday.”
UPDATE @ 15:20 – Red Jet 6 has re-entered service, but work will continue on Red Jet 7’s port fuel system over the weekend.
An update on Monday’s timetable is expected later this afternoon. In the meantime, it has been confirmed that the following sailings have been cancelled for today and tomorrow…
Friday 22nd October – Cancelled Red Jet sailings:
From Southampton: 16:55, 18:15
From West Cowes: 17:35, 18:55
Saturday 23rd October – Cancelled Red Jet sailings:
From Southampton: 07:35, 08:55, 10:15, 11:35, 12:55, 14:15, 15:35, 16:55, 18:15
From West Cowes: 08:15, 09:35, 10:55, 12:15, 13:35, 14:55, 16:15, 17:35, 18:55
It’s said that Red Jet 4 has completed an out of water survey today as part of her recertification process following a prolonged period out of service. Red Funnel is working with regulatory authorities to return her to service as soon as possible.
What about red jet 4? According to their website, its still part of the fleet, so why isn’t it being used?
Look on vessel finder and you will see a red jet just sat there next to the car ferry port or failing that check out the webcam that looks over the terminal then you will see it. Oh no you cant its offline now