TRAVEL CHAOS AS WIGHTLINK DOWN TO SINGLE FERRY ON FISHBOURNE ROUTE

Passengers are being advised to cancel their bookings for a full refund, or travel for free as a foot passenger on the Fastcat.

There is chaos on Wightlink’s cross-Solent services as a double engine failure on board St Clare has left the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route with just 1 ferry in operation this evening (Thursday).

With Victoria of Wight undergoing annual maintenance and St Clare now developing a technical fault with 2 engines, the entire operation is reliant on the smallest ferry, St Faith, which is operating a shuttle service for the rest of the day and into Friday morning.

Those travelling to and from the Isle of Wight are facing significant disruption of several hours, with Wightlink’s Yarmouth-Lymington route fully booked and unable to cope to any additional demand.

Earlier today Wightlink advised of delays of up to 180 minutes on its Fishbourne service, but the situation has only become worse with the withdrawal of St Clare entirely.

The 18:00 and 20:00 sailings from Portsmouth have now been cancelled alongside the 19:00 and 21:00 sailings from Fishbourne. Customers are in the process of being informed.

Earlier this week St Clare experienced engine troubles but it’s thought engineers have managed to keep the ferry in service in order to maintain a timetabled service. The troubles come at a busy time for the ferry operator – the February half term.

A spokesperson for Wightlink has said:

“We apologise for disrupting travel plans for our customers this evening. Engineers are working to fix the problem, and we hope to bring St Clare back as soon as we can. St Faith will continue to run a shuttle service overnight”.

Customers are being advised to cancel or amend their bookings online, with full refunds to be given free-of-charge.

Customers who need to return to the Island this evening can use Wightlink’s FastCat foot passenger service free of charge and leave their vehicles in Wightlink’s Gunwharf Road car park.

There are also delays of 45 minutes on Red Funnel’s East Cowes-Southampton vehicle ferry service, which has also experienced technical issues today.

UPDATE @ 19:36 – Wightlink has cancelled the 06:00 and 08:00 sailings from Portsmouth and the 07:00 and 09:00 sailings from Fishbourne, suggesting engineers do not expect to have St Clare back in service by tomorrow morning.