Design
Wight Sky, the second of three new vessels built for Wightlink, is a completely new design of vessel with more comfortable passenger facilities. The design by naval architects Hart Fenton & Company (now Houlder Ltd), utilises fixed and mobile mezzanine decks, complete disabled access and a larger cafe and sundeck area. There is a passenger lift between the car deck and passenger decks.
The new vessels do not have the additional third deck of the old C-class ferries, with the space incorporated into the passenger lounges. They are intended to last as long as the C-class vessels they replace.
Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only catamaran between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. The company is jointly owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners based in the United Kingdom and Fiera Infrastructure based in Canada.
Red Funnel, the trading name of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, is a ferry company that carries passengers, vehicles and freight on routes between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. High-speed foot passenger catamarans, known as Red Jets, run between Southampton and Cowes, while vehicle ferries run between Southampton and East Cowes.
MV Wight Light is a car and passenger ferry built for the British ferry operator Wightlink. She is in service between mainland England and the Isle of Wight.
MV St Catherine is a Roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry. She served the Wightlink crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, Isle of Wight from 1983 to 2009. In 2010, she was sold to Delcomar and renamed GB Conte.
There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel.
MV St Helen was a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Due to her age, she was sold and was removed from service on 26 March 2015. She now operates in Sardinia with the name Anna Mur, operated by Delcomar, together with her sister ship GB Conte, the former MV St Catherine.
MV Wight Sun is an Isle of Wight ferry built in 2008 for the British company Wightlink.
MV St Clare currently sails on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She was built in Gdańsk in 2001. From her introduction in 2001 until January 2004, St Clare was the longest ship regularly crossing between the Isle of Wight and the British mainland, but was overtaken by Red Funnel's Red Osprey following that vessel's stretching.
MV St Faith is a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. As with former sister ship St Cecilia, there were plans to increase St Faith′s capacity by extending her length by 12 metres. Entering service in 1990, St Faith is the second youngest of Wightlink's 'St Class' ships, after St Clare. The name is taken from St Faith's Church, Cowes.
MV Red Osprey is a Raptor Class vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Red Funnel on their route from Southampton to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. She was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow.
MV Caedmon was an Isle of Wight 'C' class ro-ro vehicle and passenger ferry. She operated for ten years on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route before transferring to Wightlink's route from Lymington to Yarmouth. After 37 years of service, she was broken up in 2010.
MV Cenwulf was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
MV Cenred was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
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 and was named Water Jet 2. In 1999, the year before it was sold to Wightlink, its name was changed to Supercat 18.
HSC Wight Ryder I is one of two high-speed passenger catamarans operated by Wightlink on the Ryde to Portsmouth ferry route.
MV Lymington is a former ro-ro ferry, built in 1938 to serve the Isle of Wight. She is Britain's earliest example of a Voith Schneider driven ferry. Renamed MV Sound of Sanda in 1974, she served Western Ferries on the Upper Clyde until 1993.
MV Cuthred was an Isle of Wight ro-ro ferry built in 1969. From 1990 until 2009, she operated as Mira Praia in Portugal.
MV Victoria of Wight is a ship sailing on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She entered service on 26 August 2018. Built by the Cemre Shipyard in Yalova for £30 million, she is the newest ship in the fleet and completed Wightlink's £45 million investment in the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. In addition, upon introduction into service Victoria of Wight became the largest ship in the fleet and the new flagship.
TSMV Brading was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1948 and 1986.
TSMV Southsea was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1948 and 1987.
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