FLOATING BRIDGE 6

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Troubled chain ferry to be replaced

The 'Floating Bridge 6' is set to be replaced, the council has confirmed. The £3.5m chain ferry, which crosses the River Medina between Cowes and East Cowes, has been plagued with issues since it was installed in 2017. The council's executive cabinet unanimously agreed to replace the ship. It will now work with consultants 3S which recently found a replacement vessel would have to be redesigned. Options would be researched and brought back to the council before a new ferry was purchased. The executive body agreed previous information, gathered by the council in multiple reports and reviews over the years, should be used to inform the next stages of replacing the vessel.

Chain ferry will always need a boat to puhs

The 'Floating Bridge 6' will always need a boat to help push it during spring tides, a report has found. A review of the ferry in Cowes concluded that no changes to the current vessel would allow it to cope with the strongest fast-flowing spring ebb tides. The report by consultancy firm 3S, costing almost £50,000, looked at recommendations and options for the future for the council-owned service. An agreement with Solent and Wightline Cruises to provide a support barge, the 'Seaclear' is due to run out in 2025, but could be extended. The barge is used to keep the chain ferry running in all tides after an issue meant the chains were snagging. The 'Floating Bridge 6' is more than 100 tonnes heavier than its predecessor. A lighter, radically redesigned smaller vessel would go some way towards achieving the required chain depth and resolving berthing issues. The Isle of Wight Council is considering its options and if it was to get an electric vessel, which is the authority's leader's preferred choice, it could be faster and reduce downtime. The report is due to be discussed at a meeting of the council's scrutiny meeting on Feb 27, 2024. The vessel has faced a number of issues - last summer a software problem meant it was out of service for a month, costing the council £112,000 in repairs and lost revenue during the summer tourist season. Crossings are also due to be paused for a week while the annual refit takes place from March 4. A launch for foot passengers and cyclists will run but drivers face a 12-mile detour via Newport.

Report: Two major issues may not be able to be fixed

A £50,000, 6-month-long report into the troubled 'Floating Bridge 6' has concluded that two major issues persisted with the vessel – but may not be able to be fixed. The constraints of the 'Floating Bridge 6' did not ‘necessarily allow for any major modification, which would change the operational performance of the vessel. The issues include the failure to operate in all tides while maintaining the necessary chain clearance and the speed of loading and unloading the vessel while needing to keep vehicles, foot passengers and cyclists separate. The report laid out some “difficulties that make the efficiency of the vessel difficult to improve the operating efficiency. The 'Floating Bridge 6' has been plagued with technical issues since it was put into action in 2017 and the review, which cost the council £47,520, aimed to look for solutions. Despite some ongoing issues, apart from planned maintenance, the ferry has operated around 97% of its scheduled hours in 2023, thanks to previous mechanical modifications.