Red Funnel

History

The origins of Red Funnel date back to 1820, when the Isle of Wight Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was established by Cowes interests to operate the first steamer service from there to Southampton. In 1826, the Isle of Wight Steam Packet Company was formed in Southampton, and by the following year the two companies had started co-ordinating their operations. In 1860, the Southampton, Isle of Wight & Portsmouth Improved Steamboat Company was created to compete with the two established operators, and the threat posed caused the two older companies to merge. They subsequently acquired the assets of the Improved Steamboat Company in 1865.

Formed in 1861, and called The Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, the merged company's name remains the longest for a registered company in the United Kingdom. The shortened name Red Funnel was adopted after 1935 when all the company's ships had a black-topped red funnel. The longer name remains the company's formal name.

The company originally operated a paddle steamer ferry service between Cowes, Isle of Wight and Southampton. During its history the company has operated other routes connecting the Isle of Wight and the English mainland, together with a sizable excursion steamer business along the South Coast of England including day trips from the Isle of Wight to France, but today services are concentrated on two routes. In 1931 it introduced its first diesel ferry, the MV Medina. Ferries have steadily increased in size to the current Scottish-built Raptor class operated between East Cowes and Town Quay in Southampton. Between 1969 and the 1990, the company also ran Italian-built hydrofoils between Town Quay and Cowes. This route is now served by high-speed, passenger-only catamarans.

In 1867 Red Funnel instituted a service crossing the River Medina between Cowes and East Cowes. This service was operated by a series of small launches over the years. The service ceased on the outbreak of war in 1939 when the vessels involved were requisitioned by the Admiralty. In 1868 the company took over the Cowes Floating Bridge Company and operated the floating bridge until 1901.

In 1885 the company bought the New Southampton Steam Towing Company and operated tugs and tenders under the subsidiary Red Funnel Towage. In 2002 Red Funnel Towage was sold to the Adelaide Steamship Company, later passing to Svitzer Marine.

In 1946 Red Funnel acquired a controlling interest in Cosens & Co Ltd, a rival pleasure steamer operator based in Weymouth. This enabled the combined company to coordinate their excursions and also gave Red Funnel access to the Cosens' marine engineering and ship repair facilities. Excursions came to end in 1966 but the engineering side continued until sold off in 1990 to a management buy-out.

In 2001 the company was sold to JP Morgan Partners Inc. by Associated British Ports Holdings, which had acquired the company in 1989 as a white knight to fend off a hostile takeover by Sally Lines. In 2004 the company was sold again in a management buy-out backed by the Bank of Scotland for £60 million. On 12 April 2007, the owners of Red Funnel (who include HBOS) announced that they were considering selling Red Funnel. In June of the same year, the company was sold to the Prudential's infrastructure specialist, Infracapital, in a deal valuing the business at more than £200m.

The House Flag

The house flag was inspired by the names of the early paddle-steamers, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby and Pearl. A simple rhyme was the guide to flying it correctly:

"Blue to mast, green to fly,
Red on deck, white to sky."

Notable events

The Red Eagle collided with Humber Energy in the Thorne Channel, near Southampton Water, on the evening of 21 December 2006. Coastguards said nobody was injured and neither vessel was badly damaged. Richard Pellew, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: "Having examined the minor damage sustained to the Red Eagle we are advising Red Funnel on the repair work the ferry needs before it can resume normal service."

On 10 March 2006 the car ferry Red Falcon, collided with the linkspan at the Southampton Town Quay terminal. Eight passengers and one crew member were injured and significant damage was caused to the Southampton end of the Red Falcon and to the linkspan. The collision caused a 5-metre (16 ft) hole above the waterline and buckling of the car deck doors. The accident occurred 9 years and 1 day after the Red Falcon collided with the dredger Volvox Hansa in Southampton Water with limited visibility due to fog.

On 5 November 2016 a man on a personal water craft collided with Red Jet 4. No one was injured and no damage was caused.

Current fleet

All three vessels were built by Ferguson Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow, and entered service between 1994 and 1996. Between 2003 and 2005 the ferries were refitted and extended both in length and height by the Polish workers of Remontowa S.A. in Gdańsk, Poland. This was following a corporate decision driven by Tom Docherty to maximise summer operating capacity taking the previous capacity from around 100 CEUs to 213 CEU

During 2014 MV Red Falcon underwent a £2.2 million refurbishment, which saw the interior and facilities replaced with a bright and new modern look. Due to success and increase of passengers on their services during 2014, it was confirmed that MV Red Osprey would also receive a £2.2 million refurbishment. Like her sister ship, the Red Osprey was refitted and relaunched almost exactly a year later. The MV Red Eagle is also expected to be refurbished at the end of 2015.

Red Jet 3 was built new for Red Funnel by FBM Marine of Cowes in 1998. She was followed in 2003 by the somewhat larger Red Jet 4, a new building by North West Bay Ships of Tasmania. Red Jet 5, by contrast, was a second-hand acquisition in 2009; she was originally built in 1999 by Pequot River Shipworks of Connecticut to the same FBM design as Red Jet 3. This vessel was previously known as the Bo Hengy, and was operated by Bahamas Ferries until 2008. Red Funnel have taken delivery of a new 40 metre high speed catamaran constructed in East Cowes by Shemara Refit LLP. Named by the Princess Royal on 4 July 2016, Red Jet 6, is expected to be in service later in the summer.

Classic ferries

Between 1840 and the 1960s, Red Funnel line and its predecessors operated 40 different classic passenger ferries, many of these being paddle steamers. Later ferries sometimes had space allocated for carrying cars but it was not until 1959 that the first purpose-built car ferry was introduced. Classic passenger vessels continued in service until the Balmoral was sold in 1969.

Car ferries

Although some earlier ferries provided space for cars, the first car ferry purpose built for Red Funnel was introduced in 1959. Besides the Raptor class vessels that are still in service, the following purpose built car ferries have been used by Red Funnel:

Fast passenger ferries

The first fast ferry introduced by Red Funnel was the Sea Coach Island Enterprise, a motor cruiser capable of carrying 11 passengers at 20 knots. She was built by the British Power Boat Company in Hythe, and operated from 1933 to 1938.

Hovercraft

In 1968 the company ran trials with an HM2 sidewall hovercraft, number 002, in order to compete with the Seaspeed service which used an SRN6 between Southampton and Cowes. Due to the unreliability of the craft it never entered passenger service. In 1981 Red Funnel acquired a pair of HM2 MkIIIs, GH2019 & GH2024, which were primarily used on the charter service for Vosper Thorneycroft transporting workers from the Isle of Wight to the Woolston yard and back each day. These two craft were disposed of in June 1982 and the charter subsequently operated by the augmented hydrofoil fleet.

Hydrofoils

The first hydrofoils to operate on the Southampton to Cowes route, and the first in commercial service in the United Kingdom, were the Italian designed Shearwater and Shearwater I. These were introduced by Red Funnel in 1969, and each seated 54 passengers. They were replaced in 1973 by two 67 seat RH70 hydrofoils built by Cantière Navale Rodriguez and named Shearwater 3 and Shearwater 4. The latter was delivered some 5 months after the former and in the interim a PT20 craft, Fleccia di Reggio was chartered to stand in. In 1982 Shearwater 5 and Shearwater 6 were added. In 1991, with the introduction of the first Red Jet catamarans, the hydrofoils were demoted to back-up duties until they were finally withdrawn in 1998.

Red Jets

The first of the Red Jet series of fast passenger catamarans were introduced in 1990. Red Jet 1 and Red Jet 2 were designed and built by FBM Marine of Cowes, and seated 138 passengers. They were sold to Caspian Mainport in May 2009 for continued service in the Caspian Sea, and left the Solent for Saint Petersburg on 15 May 2009.

Tugs and tug tenders

Some tugs also had passenger accommodation to enable them to serve as tenders to liners not actually berthing in Southampton and to augment the excursion fleet on occasion.

Onboard facilities

Red Funnel Ferries offer hot and cold food, fresh coffee and cakes, a bar, and were the first on the Solent to offer free WiFi on board, which is currently only available on their vehicle ferries.