a big one...

Wightlink and it's new megaferry

St Clare entered service on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route in August 2001 and is capable of carrying approximately 184 cars St Catherine entered service on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route in 1983 and is capable of carrying approximately 142 cars Caedmon ceased service on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth route in 1983 and is capable of carrying approximately 52 cars The above are shown to the same scale and illustrate the growth in size of ferries since 1983 The artists impressions above give some indication of the growth in the physical size of the ferries but do not give the true picture of the increase in traffic. In addition to the carry capacity one must also consider the number of sailings. At peak periods in the summer there will be over 80 ferry movements in and out of Fishbourne every 24 hours. This increase in traffic since 1982 (the last full year before the 'Saint' class ferries were introduced) is in the region of 250% Saint Clare and Saint Catherine

The Background Car ferries have been operating from Fishbourne since 1926 when Southern Railways operated a service based on a tug towing three tow - boats. This was quickly changed in 1927 when the first purpose built roll-on-roll-off vessels were brought into service. After the Second World War when the railways were nationalised the service came under the direction of British Railways. A subsidiary called Sealink was established to run all British Rail ships and in September 1981 they unveiled plans for two new ferries. The first, St Catherine, was launched in March 1983 and entered service in July of that year. The second ship, St Helen entered service on 28 November. In September 1981 Sealink announced plans for an expansion of the facilities at Fishbourne together with the building of a Linkspan to enable the new ferries to operate. This enlargement provoked much opposition from local residents, but the scheme still went ahead and in June 1983 was completed. In July 1984 Sealink was privatised and has become what is nowadays Wightlink Ltd. St Cecilia was the third ship which entered service on 27 March 1987, followed by the St Faith in July 1990. Opposition to the increased ferry traffic As well as the opposition in 1982 / 83, there was also opposition to the introduction of the third and fourth large ferries in 1989. Based on experience from the operation of the St Catherine and the St Helen, residents campaigned against the excessive noise (day and night), the severe estuary erosion and the traffic chaos. With two extra ferries of the same size, this would only get worse. When Sealink announced plans for the expansion of the facilities in 1988 they agreed with the local council to introduce new marshalling techniques involving the cessation of all marshalling on the public highway to the satisfaction of the council. This has not really been achieved, and queues of cars and lorries still block Fishbourne Lane causing much annoyance to local residents and other road users.