The Hythe Ferry sets off from Hythe on her scheduled service running every
half hour between Southampton’s Town Quay and Hythe Pier.
26 • Summer 2018 • http://www.shipsmonthly.com
are Spirit of Gosport (2001/300gt)
and Harbour Spirit (2015/293gt),
with services from 0530 to midnight.
- 0123 9252 4551, gosportferry.co.uk
HYTHE FERRY
Blue Funnel Ferries now operate
the Hythe-Southampton Town Quay
passenger service, which includes up
to 25 weekday crossings through to
the end of September, with 30 trips
on Saturdays and 16 on Sundays, after
taking over from White Horse Ferries
in April last year.
Regular services are covered by the
catamaran Hythe Scene (1992/66gt),
which came to the service for previous
operators as Great Expectations, with
back-up when necessary from other
vessels in the Blue Funnel excursion
fl eet. At Hythe a free tramway dating
from 1909 takes passengers to or
from the landing stage at the end of
the 700-yard-long pier.- 02380 840722, hytheferry.co.uk
SCILLY ISLES
IoS STEAMSHIP CO
Passenger ferry Scillonian III
(1977/1,346gt) has carried more than
four million people from Penzance
to St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly, and
is now into a fi fth decade of service.
She makes daily return trips from mid-
March into early November. Carrying
up to 485 passengers, the Appledore-
built vessel, extensively refi tted in 1999
and 2013, departs Penzance at 0915
for a two-hour-45-minute journey and
returns from St Mary’s at 1400, with a
1645 arrival back at the Cornish port.A year-round freight service is
also provided, with Gry Maritha
(1981/590gt) replaced in 2017 after
27 years of service by the larger Mali
Rose (1992/968gt). There has been
talk in recent times of a ro-ro vessel
to succeed Scillonian III but to date
no moves have been made.- 01736 334220, http://www.islesofscilly-
travel.co.uk
RIVER MERSEY
MERSEY FERRIES
Still the big Mersey Ferry talking
point is news of a fi rst new vessel for
nearly 60 years, with initial designs
valready prepared by naval architects
and a tendering process due to
start later in the year to bring theLUNDY
LUNDY COMPANY
The island of Lundy in the Bristol
Channel is administered by the
Landmark Trust and until 26
October motor vessel Oldenburg
(1958/295gt) usually makes fi ve
sailings a week from Ilfracombe,
leaving at 1000 for journeys taking
a little under two hours, whichreturn from the island at 1400. Most
weeks also include at least one
Bideford-Lundy return sailing, with
earlier departure times depending
on tides. Built originally for German
coastal traffi c, Oldenburg offers
comfortable and traditional
passenger accommodation below
decks, with original wood panelling
and brass fi ttings retained.- 01271 863636 , lundyisland.co.uk
RED FUNNEL
With origins stretching back to the
1820s, Red Funnel originally ran as
the Southampton, Isle of Wight and
South of England Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company. Now marketed as
Red Funnel Ferries, the company
came under new ownership in
2017, when a consortium of UK
and Canadian insurance interestsbought out the Prudential Group’s
infrastructure specialist Infracapital
Partners for an undisclosed sum.
The three 3,953gt Raptor class
ferries, which came from Ferguson
Shipbuilders at Port Glasgow on
the Clyde between 1994 and 1996
and maintain the Southampton-
East Cowes passenger and vehicle
service with hourly departures and 55minute crossings throughout the day,
have been substantially upgraded
internally. Red Falcon and Red
Osprey went to Remontowa in Poland
in 2014 and 2015, before fl agship Red
Eagle returned to service in March
after an upgrade costing £3 million.
Red Funnel also link Southampton
with West Cowes using 38-knot
catamarans on journeys taking justover 20 minutes. The line-up received
a boost in 2016 with the delivery of
the 249 seat Red Jet 6, which is to be
joined this year by sister craft Red Jet
7. Red Funnel also have a dedicated
freight ferry on order from Cammell
Laid, with delivery expected in 2019,
to relieve pressure on the Raptor trio
and make more car space available.- 0844 844 9988, redfunnel.co.uk
Red Falcon on her hour-long
passage down the Solent.