Latest Lymington ferry blaze brings more disruption to frustrated commuters

FRUSTRATED cross-Solent commuters are expected to face continued disruption when newly-imposed wind restrictions force Wightlink to cancel its ferry services, with only a 12-seater foot passenger boat laid on in their place.

The Lymington-Yarmouth route was left in turmoil after an engine blaze broke out on one of its three-strong fleet, Wight Sky, on Friday 14th December – the third on the same vessel in 16 months. No one was injured.

While the Marine Accident Investigation Board looks into the fire, Wightlink has been ordered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to run its remaining vessels with just two out of their four engines. This restriction means the craft cannot operate if wind speeds are above 25 knots.

Consequently, having already been put out of action for two-and-half days after the blaze, the service was cancelled on Tuesday due to strong winds. Pre-booked passengers were diverted to the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route, with Wightlink offering to pay fuel costs or refund tickets to those wishing to cancel.

Following the chaos that ensued on that day, the company has now chartered a limited foot passenger commuter service that can be used when the main ferry service is cancelled.

However, the 13m 12-seater catamaran, CRC Gladiator, will only run between Lymington Quay and Yarmouth Harbour during peak commuting hours during the working week.

Due to its shortage of seats, passengers are advised that booking is essential to guarantee they can be accommodated on the contingency vessel when it is operating.

It was first put into use last Friday, when strong winds once again resulted in the main ferry service being put out of action.

The A&T spoke to some passengers who were sent to the Quay that day to catch the 3.15pm catamaran service.

One disgruntled Yarmouth resident said Wightlink needed to be “shamed” for the way it had treated its customers.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “If they hadn’t put this [the catamaran] on, I would have had to go to Southampton Central and get the Red Jet to West Cowes, and my wife would have had to do a one-hour journey to pick me up and take me home.

“That’s how much of an inconvenience this is causing.”

Financial marketing worker Alexander Wright, who also launched annual Island publication Cowes Magazine in the summer, relies on the ferry service to travel from Yarmouth to work in London once a week.

Mr Wright attributed being a foot passenger to not having received any notification of last Friday’s cancellation. However, he commended the Wightlink staff’s handling of the matter on the day, which included driving him from the ferry terminal to the Quay to wait for the replacement boat.

“They’ve been very helpful,” he said. “They told me I could download an app to receive updates on the ferry services available in future.”

But, having been unable to board the 12-seater catamaran for its 3.15pm crossing due to pre-booked passengers taking priority, Mr Wright pointed out a larger replacement boat would have been better.

“I hope to get the next one in one-and-a-half hours, but if not, I will have to get the Red Jet from Southampton to West Cowes – but that’s quite a convoluted way back,” he said.

“The app is the key thing. The message is to get the app so you can get the service alerts.”

Mr Wright, who had moved to Yarmouth just the previous week, told the A&T he had never experienced any cancellations to his crossings to Portsmouth from Fishbourne where he lived for seven years. He believed this was down to deeper water on that route than in Lymington River, making it less susceptible to wind.

Online criticism of Wightlink continued, with people taking to social media to make their feelings known about the latest cancellation.

One Twitter user posted to the company: “Can you tell me where you find out the wind forecast etc, trying to monitor for early Xmas Eve as this unreliable service is threatening to ruin my family festive trip to stay with my parents.”

Another questioned why a ferry from the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route had not been brought in to cover the Lymington-Yarmouth circuit.

In response, the Wightlink Travel account tweeted: “It’s a good point however, they are too big to operate on the Lymington-Yarmouth route. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

One of the Wightlink staff assisting passengers at the Quay claimed the replacement boat service had proved very popular. Some people had even suggested it should become a permanent fixture, even when the regular ferries are running, he told the A&T.

The crossing on this craft was also quicker, he said, taking about 20 minutes compared with the car ferries’ approximately 40-minute-long journey times.

Engineers from Volvo Penta, the company that supplied the new engine on board Wight Sky, are also investigating the blaze as it had only been operating for 390 hours before catching light.

As reported in the A&T, the ferry problems last week were exacerbated when torrential rain on Saturday 15th December damaged the electrical supply to Wight Sun while it was plugged in at the Lymington berth.

As a result, only one remaining ferry, Wight Light, was available last week when the service was operating.

However, a Wightlink spokesperson told the A&T last Friday Wight Sun’s power issues had been resolved and it was back in operation.

From Saturday through to Christmas Eve, the main ferries were operating and no further cancellations were announced.

The company’s chief executive, Keith Greenfield, said: “Everyone is working extremely hard to determine the root cause of engine failures on our Lymington-Yarmouth service.

“We recognise that delays and cancellations on this route particularly impact regular commuters and have taken action to charter a vessel to help them. Our Fishbourne car ferry and FastCat service from Ryde Pier are also available for our customers.”