# Wightlink

Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only catamaran between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. It is jointly owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners and Fiera Infrastructure.

## History

Wightlink and its forerunners have provided ferry services to and from the Isle of Wight for more than 160 years. In the early 19th century, ferries ran to the island from Lymington and Portsmouth. Later, steam ferries operated a circular route around Lymington, Yarmouth, Cowes, Ryde and Portsmouth. When the railway companies became involved, they concentrated on two direct routes, Lymington to Yarmouth and Portsmouth to Ryde. Operation of the ferries was eventually moved under a separate subsidiary of the British Railways Board called Sealink.
In 1984 Sealink was sold to Sea Containers. When Stena Line bought Sealink in 1990, the Isle of Wight ferries remained with Sea Containers, as Wightlink. In June 1995 Wightlink was the subject of a management buyout. In 2005 it was bought by the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund.
In 2005, a Wightlink car ferry featured briefly in the film Fragile starring Calista Flockhart. The ferry is shown very briefly in a wide-angle shot. Closer shots used Red Funnel's Red Osprey.
In October 2006 Wightlink announced its intention to build two new ferries for the Yarmouth to Lymington route. These ships are slightly bigger than their predecessors, with extra vehicle space, but only accommodate 360 passengers compared to 500 on the older vessels. Wightlink later announced that a third new ferry would enter service in spring 2009. A dispute with some Lymington residents led to delay and threatened the viability of the route. In November 2008, the service was reduced so only two ships were required, allowing for the delay in the introduction of the new vessels. Sea trials were not complete by November 2008 and introduction became pressing with the expiry of safety certificates on the previous fleet. Wightlink proposed interim arrangements enabling them restricted use of the new ferries until the trials could be completed in full.
In March 2008 Wightlink revealed that an order had been placed with FBMA Marine to construct two new passenger catamarans for the Portsmouth to Ryde service, to replace the three craft currently employed. They entered service in 2009.
From May 2008 Wightlink introduced a fuel surcharge on all crossings, linked to the price of Brent Crude oil. However, in November 2008 the surcharge dropped to zero following the sharp reduction in crude prices during the credit crunch and as of November 2009 was still at zero.
Wightlink planned to spend £17.5 million on improving its Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. This involved remodelling the terminal facilities at both Fishbourne and Portsmouth. The flagship St Clare was to have its upper car deck adjusted so vehicles access it directly from on-shore ramps. Two of the older ferries were to be stretched in length by 12 metres, with upper car decks similar to St Clare's being added, replacing movable mezzanine decks. Of the remaining two ferries, St Catherine has been sold and St Helen was used mainly for freight until she too was sold. As part of this investment project the reservations and ticketing system was replaced by CarRes from Carus.
On 16 February 2015, Wightlink was sold by the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners (BBIP). On 15 May 2015, Wightlink announced a revised investment of £45 million to include the purchase a new ferry, upgrading St Clare and modifications to the terminals at both ends to facilitate double-deck loading.
In July 2016, Balfour Beatty exited BBIP, which became Basalt Infrastructure Partners.
In August 2017, Wightlink announced that a new vehicle ferry, Victoria of Wight, would be built for the Portsmouth to Fishbourne service. It entered service on 26 August 2018. In May 2019, BBIP sold a 50% stake in the business to Fiera Infrastructure of Canada.

## Current fleet
### Vehicle ferries

| Ferry | Entered service | Route |
| MV St Faith | 1990 | Portsmouth to Fishbourne |
| MV St Clare | 2001 | Portsmouth to Fishbourne |
| MV Victoria of Wight | 2018 | Portsmouth to Fishbourne |
| MV Wight Sun | 2009 | Lymington to Yarmouth |
| MV Wight Light | 2009 | Lymington to Yarmouth |
| MV Wight Sky | 2009 | Lymington to Yarmouth |
The introduction of the Wight class ferries was a much-discussed affair, with some Lymington residents claiming that the increased size of the ferries posed a risk, both in environmental terms and to users of pleasure craft on the Lymington river.

### High-speed craft

| Catamaran | Entered service | Route |
| HSC Wight Ryder I | 2009 | Portsmouth to Ryde |
| HSC Wight Ryder II | 2009 | Portsmouth to Ryde |

## Historic fleet

The following ferries have operated historically on routes run by Wightlink or previous companies that have been absorbed by Wightlink.

### Lymington-Yarmouth

| Ship | Service | Company | Notes |
| PS Glasgow | 1830–1850 | Solent Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Red Lion | 1858–1880 | Solent Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Solent | 1841–1861 | Solent Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Solent | 1863 –1901 | Solent Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Mayflower | 1866 | Solent Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Lymington | 1893 | London and South Western Railway | |
| PS Solent | 1902 | London and South Western Railway | |
| PS Freshwater | 1927-1959 | Southern Railway | Sold and renamed Sussex Queen, renamed Swanage Queen |
| MV Lymington | 1938–1973 | Southern Railway | First Voith Schneider driven ferry. Sold and renamed Sound of Sanda |
| PMV Farringford | 1948–1974 | British Transport Commission | |
| MV Freshwater | 1959–1983 | British Transport Commission | 2x 320bhp 8cyl Crossley diesels |
| MV Cenwulf | 1973–2009 | Wightlink | Scrapped 2010 |
| MV Cenred | 1974–2009 | Wightlink | Scrapped 2010 |
| MV Caedmon | 1983–2009 | Wightlink | Scrapped 2010 |

### Portsmouth-Ryde

| Ship | Service | Company | Notes |
| PS Arrow | 1825–1851 | Portsmouth & Ryde Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Union | 1825 | Portsmouth & Ryde Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Lord Yarborough | 1826–1851 | Portsmouth & Ryde Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Lord Spencer | 1833 | | |
| PS Prince Albert | 1847–1868 | Portsmouth & Ryde Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Prince of Wales | 1850 | Portsea, Portsmouth, Gosport & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Princess Royal | 1850 | Portsea, Portsmouth, Gosport & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Her Majesty | 1850-1883 | Portsmouth & Ryde Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Prince Consort | 1859–1882 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Princess of Wales | 1865–1885 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Duke of Edinburgh | 1869–1884 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Princess Alice | 1869–1882 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Ventnor | 1873–1879 | Southsea & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Shanklin | 1873–1879 | Southsea & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Ryde | 1873–1879 | Southsea & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co |
| PS Southsea | 1873–1879 | Southsea & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co | |
| SS Princess Louise | 1873–1874 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| SS Princess Beatrice | 1874-1874 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Heather Bell | 1875 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Albert Edward | 1878 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | |
| PS Alexandra | 1879–1913 | Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co | Sold to Cosens & Co Ltd |
| PS Victoria | 1881–1899 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Duchess of Edinburgh | 1884–1910 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Duchess of Connaught | 1884–1910 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Duchess of Albany | 1890–1927 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Princess Margaret | 1893–1927 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Duchess of Kent | 1897–1933 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | Sold and renamed Clacton Queen |
| PS Duchess of Fife | 1890–1929 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | |
| PS Duchess of Richmond | 1910–1915 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | Mined in the Mediterranean |
| PS Duchess of Norfolk | 1911–1937 | Joint Railway Companies Steampacket Service | Sold and renamed Embassy. Scrapped June 1967 |
| PS Shanklin | 1924–1950 | Southern Railway | Sold and renamed Monarch |
| PS Merstone | 1928–1952 | Southern Railway | |
| PS Portsdown | 1928–1941 | Southern Railway | Mined off Southsea |
| PS Southsea | 1930–1941 | Southern Railway | J113 HMS Southsea mined off the River Tyne |
| PS Whippingham | 1930–1962 | Southern Railway | J136 HMS Whippingham in WW2 |
| PS Sandown | 1934–1965 | Southern Railway | J20 HMS Sandown in WW2, evacuated 3,000 men at Dunkirk |
| PS Ryde | 1937–1969 | Southern Railway | J132 HMS Ryde in WW2, Sold for use as a floating hotel and later a nightclub. Subsequent attempts at preservation finally failed in 2018. |
| TSMV Brading | 1948–1986 | British Transport Commission | |
| TSMV Southsea | 1948–1988 | British Transport Commission | Acquired for preservation, ultimately unsuccessful. Scrapped 2005. |
| TSMV Shanklin | 1951–1980 | British Transport Commission | Sold and renamed Prince Ivanhoe. Holed and beached in 1981. Scrapped in 1984. |
| HSC Our Lady Patricia | 1986–2006 | Wightlink | Scrapped 2006 |
| HSC Our Lady Pamela | 1986–2008 | Wightlink | Scrapped 2008 |
| HSC FastCat Shanklin | 1996–2009 | Wightlink | Sold and renamed Sochi 2 |
| HSC FastCat Ryde | 1996–2010 | Wightlink | Sold and renamed Rapparee, resold and renamed Sochi 1 |

### Portsmouth-Fishbourne

| Ship | Service | Company | Notes |
| MV Fishbourne | 1927–1961 | Southern Railway | Sent to Dunkirk in 1940, 2x 120bhp Gardner 4T7 semi diesels |
| MV Wootton | 1928–1961 | Southern Railway | Sent to Dunkirk in 1940, 2x 120bhp Gardner 4T7 semi diesels |
| MV Hilsea | 1930–1961 | Southern Railway | 2x 120bhp Gardner 4T7 semi diesels |
| MV Fishbourne | 1961–1983 | British Transport Commission | IMO5115587, 2x 320bhp 8cyl Crossley diesels |
| MV Camber Queen | 1961–1984 | British Transport Commission | 2x 320bhp 8cyl Crossley diesels |
| MV Cuthred | 1969–1986 | Wightlink | Sold and renamed Mira Praia |
| MV Caedmon | 1973–1983 | Wightlink | Transferred to Lymington - Yarmouth route. Scrapped 2010 |
| MV St Catherine | 1983–2010 | Wightlink | Sold to Delcomar, Sardinia and renamed GB Conte |
| MV St Helen | 1983–2015 | Wightlink | Sold to Delcomar, Sardinia and renamed Anna Mur |
| MV St Cecilia | 1987–2019 | Wightlink | Sold to Delcomar, Sardinia and renamed Nando Murrau |

### Langstone Harbour-Bembridge

| Ship | Service | Company | Notes |
| TF Carrier | 1885–1888 | Isle of Wight Marine Transit Co | Ex Firth of Tay train ferry. Scrapped 1888 due to being ill-suited for the Solent |