Ferry captain and officer suspended after hitting moored yachts

Both the captain and officer of the Red Funnel ferry which struck moored yachts and ran aground off the Isle of Wight have been suspended.

The ferry – named Red Falcon and carrying 40 passengers – left Southampton for East Cowes at 7:00am BST on 21^st October. The vessel came into difficulty an hour later while entering the East Cowes harbour in low visibility, coming to a stop approximately 50 metres (165 feet) from the edge of the esplanade.

Red Funnel had reported to BBC News that the suspensions were "standard industry practise" and it was updating its current procedures on operating in limited visibility.

The Red Falcon passengers remained on board until the vessel began moving three hours later. No-one was injured.

Nigel Minchin, owner of a yacht which sank, told BBC News, “It was obviously a big embarrassment for them,” after being called by Red Funnel's CEO Fran Collins on Sunday evening.

Minchin's yacht, Greylag, which he has moored in Cowes since 1980, is due to be recovered later.

UK government agency Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) are now investigating the matter. Red Funnel confirmed it has handed over chart plots of the ferry's movements which are recorded electronically to the MAIB.

The incident follows after a catamaran and a channel marker post were struck by sister ship Red Eagle, resulting in two yachts damaged and later found drifting early on 27^th September 2018.

It is understood that the two occurrences involved different ship masters.

Fran Collins, Red Funnel's CEO, said in a statement that she was "concerned" about the two incidents. She further stated, "It's too early to speculate about the similarities, if any, with the last incident, but they both happened in restricted visibility so we're making immediate changes to our operating procedures to prevent any reoccurrence.

"They are around how we look at what the visibility conditions are like, we're looking at putting tighter limits on that and slight changes for how the bridge teams operate.”

Collins added that the ferries were adequately staffed and in full compliance with all necessary regulations.

Following the incident an inspection was carried out in Southampton confirming there was no damage to the hull of the Red Falcon and that the ship had since returned to its usual service.

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