New electric ferry praised as 'real step change'

Red Funnel said that the new electric ferry would be bigger than this demonstration vessel and be able to carry up to 150 passengers

Two-time Olympic sailing champion Iain Percy has said a new electric ferry for the Isle of Wight will be a "real step change".

At a maritime industry event on the Isle of Wight, BBC South was invited onto a smaller, demonstration version of the craft as it made a short journey on the Solent.

The new passenger ferry, with capacity for 150 people, is expected to begin crossings early next year.

Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel, said she hoped the addition to the fleet would help the company move from a 35-minute to a 30-minute timetable.

Iain Percy is CEO of Artemis Technologies - the Belfast-based company behind the new ferry due to start Solent crossings early next year

It comes after criticism from the prime minister, as well as Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East Joe Robertson.

Robertson said passengers had faced "excessive ferry prices and bad services," while Keir Starmer said services for islanders had "simply not been good enough."

Red Funnel had previously apologised for "any inconvenience", and said it had "faced some challenges" and not met its punctuality targets.

Artemis Technologies, run by former Olympian Percy, are the company behind developing the new ferry.

Captain Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel, said the electric ferry was an important step forward in decarbonising her industry

The electric crafts use hydrofoils - underwater wings that lift the vessel's hull out of the water as it moves, which the company claimed reduces drag and increases speed.

"It's halfway between a plane and a boat," said Percy.

"You get to a certain speed and it takes off and flies above the waves," he said. "It's going to be a real step change."

Ms Collins said the new addition to the fleet was taken to help the company meet its decarbonisation targets and provide a faster service.

"As an industry we need to decarbonise, and decarbonisation is something we can't do on our own... we have to do it in partnership," she added.