Fantastic news in from Hovertravel. The first timetabled service will be at 15:15 today from Ryde and 15:30 from Southsea. In their own words. Ed
Hovertravel is pleased to announce that hovercraft services between Ryde, Isle of Wight and Southsea have recommenced. This follows a thorough inspection of the entire fleet of hovercraft, and full certification of the vessels’ safety and compliance with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) regulations.
The service was temporarily suspended last Friday (18th November), following an incident on 30th October involving the propeller on the largest hovercraft in the company’s fleet. Over the weekend both Hovertravel and the MCA have inspected the other two operating hovercraft, which are of a different design and type, to ensure their continued safety and compliance to operate.
Safety is paramount
“The safety of our passengers, staff and vessels is of paramount importance to us,” Neil Chapman, Managing Director said. “Hovertravel has operated for many decades with an outstanding safety record and clearly puts safety as the number one priority. I know that the decision to suspend our services completely has caused significant inconvenience to all of our customers and I can only apologise to them, personally, for that disruption. There was no question of us operating until both the company and our regulatory authority, the MCA, were completely satisfied with our safety compliance.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their patience and all of our staff, who have worked tirelessly throughout the weekend, to manage this difficult situation and enable operations to resume. I would also like to thank Wightlink for their help in meeting the extra demand on their services.”
The fastest link between the mainland and the Isle of Wight
“Hovertravel is a long standing and familiar part of the Solent, operating for over forty years and, as well as being a vital commuter link for the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth communities, is a popular tourist attraction,” Neil Chapman continued. “We are now looking forward to getting back to doing what we do best, operating the fastest link between the mainland and the Isle of Wight.”
One craft timetable
Hovertravel will be operating a temporary revised timetable using one hovercraft, until the second hovercraft is serviceable, following the propellers being refitted.
Services will run every 30 minutes during peak commuter times and every hour at other times. Please see our timetable at www.hovertravel.com.
Hovertravel season and travel card holders, and those in possession of other pre-paid tickets have been provided with free of charge vouchers by Hovertravel in order to able travel on Wightlink during the suspension.
Image: Daren B Hillman under CC BY-ND 2.0
