All 3 Red Jets are now considered unserviceable resulting in the hi-speed service being suspended until Monday, with a slower replacement boat set to be brought in. A revised timetable was introduced on Friday afternoon when Red Jet 6 developed a water jet fault, which saw the vessel pulled from service. Red Funnel stated that a 1-boat service would operate until Tuesday with the sole remaining vessel, Red Jet 7. However, things went from bad to worse when Red Jet 7 developed a fault this afternoon (Saturday), forcing the West Cowes-Southampton service to be suspended in its entirity. Red Jet 4 – which is up for sale at $3.5million – hasn’t been in service since November, as a result of an onboard incident. It has been announced tonight that as a result of technical issues with both Red Jet 6 and 7, a slower, alternative boat will be brought into service on Monday. The crossing time will be 50 minutes in each direction.
The timetable will run as follows:
From Southampton: 0700 / 0900 / 1100 / 1500 / 1700 / 1900
From West Cowes: 0600 / 0800 / 1000 / 1400 / 1600 / 1800
It’s not just the passenger service that has been hit by technical gremlins… the vehicle ferry service is now solely reliant on just 1 ferry – Red Osprey – due to Red Eagle being pulled from service and Red Osprey mysteriously moored up.
It’s been an embarrassing day for the cross-Solent operator with Red Eagle causing 2 separate disruptions just 2 days after returning from refit in Falmouth.
