More Red Jet Cancellations - But Red Osprey Car Ferry Returns To Service

There are more cancellations to Red Jet services today (Friday) - but the Red Osprey car ferry is back in service after an on board fire yesterday.

Red Jet 7 has been off, due to mechanical issues, for much of this week - and was then joined in the dock by Red Jet 6 yesterday.

Meanwhile, passengers on Red Osprey were forced to make their way to the car deck and don lifejackets as a small fire broke out in the kitchen of the vessel.

Red Funnel says a number of passenger crossings are cancelled today.

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Leanna Lakes, Operations Director, said: 

“We are sorry to advise that we will be running a reduced Red Jet service on Friday as repairs are taking longer than anticipated.

"Works on Red Jet 6 have been completed and are awaiting the appropriate regulatory approval.

"Red Jet 7 engine repairs are ongoing with the support of an external marine engineering specialist and we will provide an update on these as work continues over night.

"The first Red Jet sailing will depart Southampton at 08:15 on Friday morning."

The following services from Southampton have been cancelled:

05:35, 06:15, 06:55, 07:35, 08:55, 16:55 and 18:15

The following services from West Cowes have been cancelled:

06:15, 06:55, 07:35, 08:15, 09:35, 17:35 and 18:55

Leanna added:

 “I would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption this has caused. We know that we provide essential travel for many customers’, and we understand the importance of providing an efficient service.

"We are continuing to work hard to ensure normal service can resume and we will continue to keep customers updated through text alerts, social media updates and our live service status. Our vehicle service is running to timetable.”

Live service status information is available here: https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/isle-of-wight-ferry/service-status/ 

Leanna continued:

“We are pleased to announce that Red Osprey will be back in service from Friday morning and all vehicle ferries are running to timetable. We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused and thank our customers for their patience and cooperation as our team undertook the required safety procedures.

“A small and contained fire in the galley of Red Osprey was caused by a deep fat fryer. As part of our rigorous health and safety protocols, we are undertaking a full investigation.

"We would like to thank the emergency services for attending and our team who managed the incident quickly and safely, using the on-board suppression system to extinguish the fire. Our teams undergo extensive training to equip them to manage situations of this nature, including the use of suppression systems which extinguish fires using a wet chemical.

“Due to the incident, hot food will not be available on-board Red Osprey on Friday.”

*UPDATED

*Red Jet 08:15, 09:35 & 10:55 from Southampton and 08:55, 10:15 & 11:35 from Cowes cancelled due to a mechanical fault on Red Jet 6.