Red Funnel has finally confirmed that Red Jet 4 has been sold to a company in South Korea, some 7 days after Island Echo originally broke the story. It was just over a week ago that Island Echo first broke the news of the sale of the vessel to a company in South Korea, something which Red Funnel at that point didn’t confirm nor deny until Thursday. Red Jet 4 was built by North West Bay Ships in Tasmania in 2003 and can accommodate 271 seated passengers and four crew and is powered by 2 MTU diesel engines, each driving an MJP waterjet to give a service speed of 35 knots. The vessel will be lifted from the water in Southampton later this month before being hoisted onto a freight vessel and shipped to South Korea. In addition to its current fleet of six hi-speed catamarans, Nam Hae Express Co, established in 1955 also operates four car ferries serving popular tourist destinations including Mokpo and Jeju Island. Red Funnel CEO, Fran Collins, said:
“We are very proud of Red Jet 4’s 2 decades of service across the Solent. She’s been a much-loved member of our fleet and we are delighted that Nam Hae Express Co is adding her to its routes. “However, with Red Jet 4 now over 21 years old, the time is right to shift our priorities towards the future. For us, this entails a strategic decision to focus on the upkeep and reliability of Red Jets 6 and 7 and ensure we deliver the best possible service to our customers. This aligns with the current demand for service on our Southampton to West Cowes route and positions us to make the best possible decisions to chart our course from here. “We wish Nam Hae Express all the very best in giving Red Jet 4 a new home and a new purpose and send our wishes for fair winds and safe travels to her passengers and crew.”
You seem to make the worst possible decions all the time. Your ‘service’ is atrocious, unreliable and bad value for money….
Meanwhile the service continues to be blighted by cancellations when maintenance is required as there is no spare vessel. How is that “the best possible service for our customers”?
What she didn’t add was ” This now leaves us with no contingency, but Hey, the shareholders will be happy ! “
The sell off begins. The whole company will be gone by November, this will be the last season they will be ripping people off I reckon.
I disagree because if Red Funnel go it means that Wight link will up there prices so it’s terrible
How on Earth can this be the best option ” for our customers”?
You are already as, if not more, unreliable than your competition.
Taking one vessel out of your High Speed fleet seems a totally ludicrous decision, leaving you with absolutely NO back up.
Failure to plan is planning to fail all but your precious investors
As for your customers – Who cares – You certainly don’t.
The Namhae group are a huge consortium into everything from road construction, container shipping, airfreight, etc and probably ten times better off financially than Red Funnel. Makes me wonder why a company like that would need a 21 year old, worn out catamaran. Perhaps to use if for donor parts for the rest of the fleet… 😉 Especially when the final statement in the report says, ‘all the very best in giving Red Jet 4 a new home and a new purpose’. One thing the Asians really love is to haggle to get a good bargain. Surely a deal could have been hammered out where we could have off loaded the floating bridge as part of the sale? It would make an idea floating fruit & veg stall… 🙂
And it will run for 20-30 years never breaking down always on time well worth the money for everyday passengers and the staff greet you with a smile and ask how are you doing. Red Funnel is the complete opposite