Wightlink

Wightlink is a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 company operating routes between Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 and the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 in southern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Their core routes are car ferries from Lymington

Lymington

Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

 to Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...

 (30 minutes) and Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 to Fishbourne

Fishbourne, Isle of Wight

for disambiguation.Fishbourne is a small village between Wootton and Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.The name "Fishbourne" might mean "stream of fish" or "fish spring."...

 (40 minutes). A fast passenger-only catamaran

Catamaran

A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

 operates between Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 Harbour and Ryde Pier Head

Ryde Pier

Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.- Before the pier :Before the pier was built, passengers to Ryde had the uncomfortable experience of coming ashore on the back of a porter and then, depending on the state of the...

 (taking 18 minutes), and directly links into the Island Line

Island Line, Isle of Wight

The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight, running some from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin down the eastern side of the island. The line was electrified in 1967. Trains connect with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour at Ryde Pier Head, and these ferries in turn connect with the...

 rail line.

History

Wightlink and its forerunners have provided ferry services to and from the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 for more than 160 years. In the early nineteenth century, ferries ran to the island from Lymington

Lymington

Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

 and Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. Later, steam ferries operated a circular route around Lymington, Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...

, Cowes

Cowes

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

, Ryde

Ryde

Ryde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...

 and Portsmouth. When the rail companies became involved they concentrated on two direct routes, Lymington - Yarmouth and Portsmouth - Ryde. Ownership of the ferries eventually passed from the British Railways Board

British Railways Board

The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...

 to Sealink UK Limited

Sealink

Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....

.

In 1984 Sealink UK Limited was denationalised and the operating name became Sealink British Ferries, which was subsequently bought by the Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 based Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd

Sea Containers Ltd. is a Bermuda-registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March 2006 the company sold its share of Orient-Express Hotels...

. When Stena Line

Stena Line

Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...

 bought Sealink British Ferries in 1990, the Isle of Wight ferries remained with Sea Containers, as ‘Wightlink’. In June 1995 Wightlink was the subject of a management buy-in. In 2005 it was bought by the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund for an estimated £240,000,000.

In 2004, Wightlink renewed its sponsorship of the Wightlink Raiders

Wightlink Raiders

The Wightlink Raiders are an ice hockey team based in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, England. They are sponsored by Wightlink and play in the third-tier English National Ice Hockey League...

 ice hockey team,

In October 2006 Wightlink announced its intention to build two new ferries for the Yarmouth to Lymington route. These ships are slightly bigger than their predecessors, with extra vehicle space, but will only accommodate 360 passengers compared to 500 on the older vessels. Wightlink later announced that a third new ferry would enter service in spring 2009. A dispute with some Lymington residents led to delay and threatened the viability of the route. In November 2008, the service was reduced so only 2 ships were required, allowing for the delay in the introduction of the new vessels. Sea trials were not complete by November 2008 and introduction became pressing with the expiry of safety certificates on the previous fleet. Wightlink proposed interim arrangements enabling them restricted use of the new ferries until the trials can be completed in full.
In March 2008 Wightlink revealed that an order has been placed with FBMA Marine to construct 2 new passenger catamarans for the Portsmouth to Ryde service, to replace the three craft currently employed. They entered service in 2009.

From May 2008 Wightlink introduced a fuel surcharge on all crossings, linked to the price of Brent Crude

Brent Crude

Brent Crude is the biggest of the many major classifications of crude oil consisting of Brent Crude, Brent Sweet Light Crude, Oseberg, Ekofisk, and Forties . Brent Crude is sourced from the North Sea. The Brent Crude oil marker is also known as Brent Blend, London Brent and Brent petroleum...

 oil. However in November 2008 the surcharge dropped to zero following the sharp reduction in crude prices during the credit crunch and as of November 2009 is still at zero.

Wightlink are spending £17.5M on improving their Portsmouth-Fishbourne route. They are remodelling the terminal facilities at both Fishbourne and Portsmouth to provide for new ferry loading arrangements which will be brought into use in the summer of 2009. Their flagship will have its upper car deck adjusted so vehicles access it directly from on-shore ramps. Two of the older ferries are being stretched in length by 12 metres, with upper car decks similar to St Clares being added, replacing movable mezzanine decks. Of the remaining two ferries, has been sold and will be used mainly for freight.

Current fleet

Ryde

The following passenger-only catamarans operate on the Ryde Pier

Ryde Pier

Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.- Before the pier :Before the pier was built, passengers to Ryde had the uncomfortable experience of coming ashore on the back of a porter and then, depending on the state of the...

 head to Portsmouth route:

• HSC Wight Ryder I
  HSC Wight Ryder I
  HSC Wight Ryder I is the first of Wightlink's new purpose built high-speed passenger catamarans to operate the Ryde to Portsmouth ferry route. It was introduced along with sister ship HSC Wight Ryder II. Both vessels left their construction site in the Philippines in June 2009, and began service in...
  
  
• HSC Wight Ryder II

Wight Ryder I and Wight Ryder II entered service in September 2009.

Yarmouth

The following car ferries are used on the Yarmouth to Lymington route:

The introduction of the Wight class ferries was a much discussed affair, with some Lymington residents claiming that the increased size of the ferries posed a risk, both in environmental terms and to users of pleasure craft on the Lymington river.

Historic fleet

The following ferries have operated historically on routes run by Wightlink or previous companies that have been absorbed by Wightlink.

Lymington-Yarmouth

PS Glasgow 1830 PS Solent 1841-1861 PS Red Lion 1858-1880 PS Solent 1861 PS Mayflower 1866

PS Lymington 1893 PS Solent 1902 PS Freshwater 1927 1938-1973 PMV Farringford 1948-1974

1959-1983 1973-2009 1974-2009 1983-2009

Portsmouth-Ryde

PS Prince Coburg 1820 PS Arrow 1825-1851 PS Union 1825 PS Lord Yarborough 1826-1851 PS Lord Spencer 1833 PS George VI PS Prince Albert 1847-1868 PS Prince of Wales 1850 PS Princess Royal 1850 PS Her Majesty 1850 PS Prince Consort 1859-1882 PS Princess of Wales 1865-1885 PS Duke of Edinburgh 1869-1884 PS Princess Alice 1869-1882 TS Ventnor 1873-1879 TS Shanklin 1873-1879

TS Ryde 1873-1879 TS Southsea 1873-1879 TS Princess Louise 1873-1874 TS Princess Beatrice 1874-1874 PS Heather Bell 1875 PS Princess Alice 1875 PS Albert Edward 1878 PS Alexandra 1879-1913 PS Victoria 1881-1899 PS Duchess of Edinburgh 1884-1910 PS Duchess of Connaught 1884-1910 PS Duchess of Albany 1890-1927 PS Princess Margaret 1893-1927 PS Duchess of Kent 1897-1933 PS Duchess of Fife 1890-1929 PS Duchess of Richmond 1910-1915

PS Duchess of Norfolk PS Duchess of Norfolk Duchess of Norfolk was a 381 GRT paddle steamer which was built in 1911 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway, who operated a joint service to the Isle of Wight. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as minesweeper HMS Duchess of Norfolk...  1911-1937 PS Shanklin 1924-1950 PS Merstone 1928-1952 PS Portsdown 1928-1941 PS Southsea 1930-1941 PS Whippingham 1930-1962 PS Sandown 1934-1965 PS Ryde PS Ryde PS Ryde is a paddle steamer commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969. She saw wartime service and later became a nightclub. After many years abandoned at moorings on the River Medina, scrapping started but was...  1937-1969 1948-1986 1948-1988 1951-1980 HSC Our Lady Patricia HSC Our Lady Patricia HSC Our Lady Patricia was a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route from 1986 to 2006 when she was sold. She was scrapped at Marchwood in 2006....  1986-2008 HSC Our Lady Pamela HSC Our Lady Pamela HSC Our Lady Pamela was a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She had operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route since 1986 under Sealink along with her now scrapped sister ship HSC Our Lady Patricia...  1986-2008 HSC FastCat Shanklin HSC FastCat Shanklin HSC FastCat Shanklin is a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route from 2000 to 2009 along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Ryde. Prior to working for Wightlink, the ship worked in Singapore...  1996-2009 HSC FastCat Ryde HSC FastCat Ryde HSC FastCat Ryde is a high speed catamaran ferry which operates between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. The vessel was originally built in Singapore for service in the Philippines as Water Jet 1... 1996-2010

Portsmouth-Fishbourne

1927-1961 1928-1961 1930-1961 1961-1983

1961-1984 1969-1986 1973-1983 1983-2010

Figures

Every year, Wightlink carries:

• 5 ½ million passengers
• over 1.2 million cars
• almost 200,000 coaches and freight vehicles
• Annual revenue £51 million

External links

• Wightlink website - wightlink.co.uk