A CATALOGUE of teething troubles hit Wightlink’s new multi-million pound ferry, Wight Ryder II.
Just a day after entering service Wight Ryder was beset with problems.
This morning it developed a generator glitch.
Wightlink said the new ferry could have continued but rather than risking any disruption, the decision was taken to switch vessels to ensure the service kept running to the advertised timetables during the busy commuter period.
"Please bear in mind that the vessels are new and will take time to bed in as well as our crew and engineers gaining further experience with the vessels," said marketing manager, Kerry Jackson.
But one commuter told the County Press: "It just seems unbelievable that a brand new ferry has already got a fault."
It got worse in the afternoon.
Just after the 2.40pm sailing left Portsmouth Harbour there was a bang, followed by feedback over the vessel’s public address system. Screens went blank and a message flashed up that passengers should leave their seats.
"Some of the 30-plus passengers on board were alarmed and there was nothing to reassure them, " said one traveller.
"After the bang, smoke or steam poured out of the port engine and we limped to Ryde Pier on the other engine.
"Because we couldn’t manoeuvre on one engine they had to put emergency gangways in place to disembark passengers.
"Yet again, there wasn’t one word of apology."
The teething troubles came a day after the fanfare launch of the new ferries including champagne and 10,000 cheap tickets.
The ferry company said it was investigating.
Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk