Advertisement

Isle of Wight ferry suspends master and mate after collisions

A Red Funnel ferry near the semi-submerged mast of a yacht that sank after the collision at East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
A Red Funnel ferry near the semi-submerged mast of a yacht that sank after the collision at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

The master and mate of a car ferry that collided with yachts and ran aground on the Isle of Wight in thick fog have been suspended.

Ferry operator Red Funnel insisted the suspensions were “standard industry practice” but said it was planning to change its procedures on operating in restricted visibility.

A major rescue operation was launched on Sunday off East Cowes after reports of cries for help following the collision. Lifeboats were launched and a helicopter was scrambled but had to turn back because of the poor visibility.

Rescuers confirmed that nobody had been knocked into the water. Forty passengers who were on board the ferry, Red Falcon, made it to dry land safely after being trapped on board for three hours while the vessel was re-floated.

On Monday a spokeswoman for Red Funnel described the suspensions as “standard practice in any maritime incident of this nature”.

The firm’s chief executive, Fran Collins, said the boats involved in the collision were “unmanned, moored yachts” and no injuries were reported.

She said: “On behalf of Red Funnel, I would like to apologise to all passengers disrupted by this incident, and emphasise that we give the safety of our passengers and crew the highest priority.”

Red Funnel said an inspection of Red Falcon found it was not damaged. It returned to service and a normal timetable operated on Monday.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have dispatched investigators to begin gathering evidence.

Investigators were already looking into an incident on 29 September in which Red Falcon was involved in a collision with a motor cruiser off the coast of Hampshire.

Just two days before that a different Red Funnel ferry, Red Eagle, was involved in another incident in dense fog, colliding with a catamaran and a channel marker post.

The company said it was too soon to speculate about any similarities between Monday’s incident and the 27 September one but, because both happened in restricted visibility, it was making immediate changes to its operating procedures.

Red Funnel describes itself as “the original Isle of Wight ferry company” with roots going back to 1820. Based in Southampton, it employs some 460 people.

The company carries 2.3 million passengers and more than 857,000 vehicles on its ferry route between Southampton and East Cowes and over 1.1 million passengers between Southampton and West Cowes on its Red Jet Hi-Speed service.