Wightlink has been forced to cancel a number of sailings on its Fishbourne-Portsmouth service today (Thursday) due to a mechanical fault with the St Clare ferry.
It was at around 07:00 this morning that the vessel developed what is understood to be an engine fault whilst mid-Solent.
A tug had to be called in to take the ferry safely into Portsmouth Harbour.
Wightlink initially said it was keeping an eye on the situation, predicting some level of delay.
Now, the cross-Solent operator has confirmed that it has had to cancel several sailings – 7 in total.
Sailings scrubbed for today include the 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 from Fishbourne, and the 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00 from Portsmouth.
Customers are being moved to alternative sailings, with Victoria of Wight and the ageing St Faith continuing to operate.
Other operators are also having problems today – due to the weather. Hovertravel’s cross-Solent service is suspended until further notice due to windy conditions, with Red Funnel’s 10:55 Red Jet from West Cowes also not running due to the adverse weather.
