Wightlink

History

Wightlink and its forerunners have provided ferry services to and from the Isle of Wight for more than 160 years. In the early nineteenth century, ferries ran to the island from Lymington and Portsmouth. Later, steam ferries operated a circular route around Lymington, Yarmouth, Cowes, Ryde 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 to Sealink UK Limited.

In 1984 Sealink UK Limited was denationalised and the operating name became Sealink British Ferries, which was subsequently bought by the Bermuda based Sea Containers Ltd. When Stena Line 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 ice hockey team,

In 2005, a Wightlink car ferry featured briefly in the film Fragile, starring Calista Flockhart.

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 two 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 two 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 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 planned to spend £17.5M on improving their Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. This involved remodelling the terminal facilities at both Fishbourne and Portsmouth. Their flagship St Clare was to have its upper car deck adjusted so vehicles access it directly from on-shore ramps. Two of the older ferries were to be stretched in length by 12 metres, with upper car decks similar to St Clare's being added, replacing movable mezzanine decks. Of the remaining two ferries, St Catherine has been sold and St Helen was used mainly for freight until she too was sold. As part of this investment project the reservations and ticketing system was replaced by CarRes from Carus.

On 15 May 2015, Wightlink announced a revised investment of £45m to include the purchase a new ferry, upgrading St Clare and modifications to the terminals at both ends to facilitate double-deck loading.

On Monday 16 February 2015, Wightlink was sold by the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners for an undisclosed sum.

High Speed Craft

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.

Figures

Every year, Wightlink carries: