Ferry services halted after 'traumatic' collision

A Wightlink ferry has crashed into its dock, leaving passengers temporarily stranded on board and causing services to be cancelled.

The company's sailings between Gunwharf in Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight are expected to remain suspended for the rest of the day after the vessel, St Clare, struck its berth at 08:00 GMT.

The company said the "heavy berthing incident" at Gunwharf damaged port infrastructure as well as the ship.

The incident meant the ferry had been "unable to load or unload vehicles or foot passengers", the company said.

Wightlink said at lunchtime that it hoped to resume crossings from Gunwharf on Tuesday evening but later told travellers not to travel to that port.

It said it was "hopeful" it will be able to run a service from Portsmouth International Port instead.

Regular passenger Roy King witnessed the impact from his vehicle as he waited to disembark, and joked it was "like being on the Titanic".

He said: "I was on the lower deck right by the front by the loading ramp and the ferry was coming in.

"Suddenly it just hit the wooden fenders and smashed into it and smashed the ramp and the fender fell into the water – they're like big railway sleepers.

"It was quite traumatic.

"It was right next to where I was sitting in my van so I could see what was happening and it hit quite hard and the big timber just fell into the water in the harbour."

King explained to staff what he had witnessed, adding: "Everyone was sitting in their vehicles ready to disembark so everyone was safe.

"They disembarked the top level because they have another ramp and then they had to support the [damaged] ramp and reversed the ferry out and turned it around.

"We had to reverse off the ferry. There were quite a lot of lorries on there as well, they had to reverse off."

Wightlink operations director Gavin Marshall told BBC Radio Solent there would be an investigation.

He said: "She comes in stern first and her stern clipped the fendering and caused damage both to the ship's prow and it also damaged our fendering.

"We are downloading all the information from the vessel but there are always so many variables."

A community bus that helps Isle of Wight cancer patients attend appointments in Southampton was among those caught up in the disruption after its driver was "stuck in the middle of the Solent" following the incident.

In a Facebook post, Daisy Ring Bus said it had been unable to pick up passengers from Hovertravel in Southsea at 09:30 and 10:30 but normal service would resume from 11:30.

A Wightlink spokesperson apologised for the disruption and said: "If you have urgent travel plans, we strongly recommend making alternative arrangements where possible."

The company said its other routes were operating as normal and advised passengers to check updates on its website.

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