New faster passenger ferry set for Scilly in summer

The new ferry has been acquired on a long-term charter and will sail between Penzance and St Mary's

A new ferry is set to take passengers between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in faster journey times from next summer, its operator says.

Shipbuilder Harland and Wolff (H&W) has chartered a ship it says will come into service from May, with 90-minute trips.

Last month H&W made an approach to buy the existing operators, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company (ISSC), but was "unequivocally rejected".

The ISSC ferry, the Scillonian III, is scheduled to sail from March.

H&W is calling its new arm Scilly Ferries, and said the new vessel was a catamaran that would take up to 400 passengers between Penzance and St Mary's in about one hour and 30 minutes.

The Scillonian III has been in service for more than 40 years, and is scheduled to sail between March and October next year

The existing passenger ferry service, the Scillonian III, takes about two hours and 45 minutes.

The Scillonian III and freight services are in need of replacement, and H&W and ISSC both have plans to provide replacement passenger and freight ferries.

Harland and Wolff plans to build and operate two brand new ferries using government funding (artist's computer-generated image)

H&W wants to build and operate two vessels using £48.4m of levelling-up money that has not yet been allocated.

It has also bought Kraken Marine Services, which will operate the freight deliveries under the title of Harland and Wolff Marine Operations.

ISSC plans include a new passenger ferry, Scillonian IV, and cargo vessel (artist's computer-generated image)

ISSC has taken out a private £33.6m loan to pay for three new vessels.

John Wood, chief executive of H&W said the new ferry would have two daily return trips initially, and the company was "looking to push the boundaries" with the timetable, including "early starts and late finishes".

He said: "The fact we have taken the pragmatic view to only operate in the summer season to begin with just gives us the opportunity for the first season to see how things are, and gives us the option further on to open that up and make a longer season should we feel the vessels are operating in the way we want them to."

Tickets will be on sale from January when the pricing will be revealed, he added.

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