Passengers face long delays after ferry fault

Wightlink said it was forced to withdraw its St Clare ferry from service due to a mechanical issue

Ferry passengers faced long delays on services to and from the Isle of Wight after a mechanical fault with a vessel.

Wightlink reported the problem with its St Clare vehicle ferry at about 13:00 GMT on Thursday and reduced sailings on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route.

The operator said the vessel remained out of action on Friday, later announcing it would return to service with the 17:00 sailing from Fishbourne to Portsmouth.

On social media, passengers previously reported waits of more than seven hours.

Holiday lettings firm owner Annabel Harrison said Wightlink had caused "complete chaos"

The operator released a statement saying it "sincerely apologised for the disruption" due to cancellations.

It confirmed there would be five extra round-trip sailings overnight between Lymington and Yarmouth. Normal timetables would resume on Saturday.

One woman wrote on Thursday: "My partner [was] supposed to be on the 4pm ferry. It's now 23:36 and he's still not on a ferry."

Another posted: "Waited from 1.30pm got in at 10pm."

Annabel Harrison, from HB Holiday Lettings in Bembridge, said some of her guests were delayed for five hours.

She said: "We're trying really hard to sell the Isle of Wight, to get visitors here and it's February and for Wightlink to let us down like this.

"People just didn't know what was going on, when the next ferry was happening - complete chaos."

Wightlink's chief operating officer John Burrows previously explained the faults, on two out of four engines on the St Clare, had not been diagnosed.

He told BBC Radio Solent: "It's very frustrating for those people impacted today and I can assure you that everyone here is desperately sorry.

"Our reliability is usually exemplary. In the year-to-date, over 99% of our sailings have operated."

He added: "I fully appreciate if you are booked at 2pm and we offer you a sailing at 11 or 12 tonight from Lymington that's not a very good alternative, but it is the best we can do at the moment."

In a previous statement, the firm said: "If your sailing has been cancelled, please do not drive to our ports, which will be very busy.

"The third ferry on the route, Victoria of Wight, is undergoing annual maintenance and cannot return to service.

"Customers who need to travel to the Isle of Wight today can use Wightlink's FastCat foot passenger service free of charge and leave their vehicles in Wightlink's Gunwharf Road car park."

Wightlink said affected passengers could rebook online and claim full refunds.