Following the disruption to the Portsmouth to Ryde catamaran service over the last couple of weeks, this in from Wightlink. In their own words. Ed
Wightlink would like to take the opportunity to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused by the current disruption to service on the Portsmouth Harbour- Ryde Pier Catamaran route, and give you an update on issues affecting the service.
The company are aware that there has been an engine defect. Wight Ryder I had both engines replaced towards the end of last year.
Damage to Wight Ryder II
The damage to the port engine in Wight Ryder II has resulted in this engine being replaced and as precaution, and to maintain better continuity of service, the starboard engine is being replaced at the same time. Work is expected to be complete by Friday 18 May, with the vessel entering service on Saturday 19 May.
Caterpillar is a world renowned manufacturer of marine engines and Wightlink are working with them to secure a solution to the engine issues experienced since the introduction of the Wight Ryders in September 2009
0.65% cancellations in 2012
Since the beginning of the year on the route there have been 21 cancellations for technical reasons from Portsmouth Harbour, 21 from Ryde Pier.
That’s a total of 42 out of 6,456 scheduled sailings, or 0.65%, that were cancelled as a result of technical issues*.
In the same period there have been no cancellations as a result of inclement weather conditions, even with the strong winds and fog that we have experienced in the past couple of months. Over 99% of sailings from both Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier left within five mins of scheduled departure time, with the average crossing time being just under 20 minutes
Will strive to improve figures
We recognise there is still room for improvement, but hopefully you will agree that the current position shows that it is a reliable, effective service and that Wightlink is managing the ongoing issues with the engines to ensure as little inconvenience to our customers as possible.
When this current replacement work is achieved the Company will be striving to improve on the above figures
Please accept our apologies once again for any inconvenience caused by the current disruption to service.
* based on sailings 1 January – 30 April 2012
