It’s all hands to the deck at Wightlink as the company prepares to welcome passengers on board the multi-million pound ‘Victoria of Wight’ for the first time later this month.
The systems are being put through their paces, the outlets are being stocked and last minute adjustments are being made at the dockside in Pompey, which will be home to the hybrid car ferry for an anticipated 35 years.
Over the next few decades the largest ferry ever to be built for Wightlink will sail between Portsmouth and Fishbourne all-year-round and will be the flagship of the ever-growing fleet.
The state-of-the-art ferry has been built with safety and comfort in mind and this was demonstrated when Island Echo was invited to tour the ship this week. John Burrows, Project Director at Wightlink explained how there are multiple redundancy systems in place to allow the ship to continue sailing no matter what. He went on to say that there is ‘a seat for everyone’ on board, around 1,170 to be precise.
Keith Greenfield, CEO of Wightlink has confirmed in an interview with Island Echo that Victoria of Wight will be entering service by the end of August – and he is hopeful, but not promising, that it may even be ready by the August Bank Holiday.
Watch an on-board tour of Victoria of Wight (including our interview with Keith Greenfield) and see photos of VoW below…
VIDEO:
PHOTOS GALLERY:
All photos copyright Island Echo
