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Wight Sky, the second of Wightlink’s new fleet of ships for
its Lymington to Yarmouth car ferry route is due to be
launched into Croatian waters on 12th April. It will join
sister ship, Wight Light, which was launched at Kraljevica
shipyard in Croatia in January.
During April and May both ships will undergo extensive sea
trials in Croatia before Wightlink accepts them. If all
goes to plan, the two ferries will be sailed back to the UK
in late May by Wightlink crews in a journey estimated to
take three weeks – with stops at Palermo, Gibraltar and La
Coruna en route.
They
are expected to arrive in the UK in June for further sea
trials and crew training. Harbour authorities at Lymington
and Yarmouth will monitor their performance before
operational procedures are finalised. On completion of the
final review, the two new ships should be able to enter
service later in the summer.
In
preparation for this, work is now underway on the linkspan
at Yarmouth Harbour and this is expected to be completed by
late May. Whilst work is ongoing in April and May, the
Wightlink ferry service will operate from the old slipway in
Yarmouth, with minimal disruption to passengers.
Meanwhile Wightlink is offering a special Early Bird Day
Return on the Lymington to Yarmouth route for the remainder
of 2008. Valid Sunday to Thursday for outward travel before
9.30am and available from both Lymington and Yarmouth, the
return far for a car and two people costs from £37,
depending on the date of travel.
On
the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route, Wightlink has now completed
a refit to its flagship, St. Clare, which has returned to
service with a brand new self-service retail area covering
87 square metres.
Kerry Jackson, Wightlink Marketing Manager said that the new
retail unit was being introduced after the operator’s Quay
Convenience outlets proved popular with passengers at the
Fishbourne and Portsmouth Harbour terminals. “The retail
area on St. Clare will carry a similar range to Quay
Convenience and will offer a much faster service for hot
food, snacks, confectionary and drinks,” she said.
And
in a bid to promote foot passenger travel, in line with its
pledge to extend Green Tourism on the Isle of Wight,
Wightlink has extended its Triplelink range of tickets that
combine mainland and Island Line trains or Southern Vectis
buses with FastCat passenger catamaran from Portsmouth
Harbour to Ryde Pier Head or ferry travel between Lymington
and Yarmouth. 11 different fare combinations are now
available – three new for 2008 and two of these at specially
discounted over 60s rates from £10pp.
ENDS
Issued on behalf
of:
By:
Wightlink
Ltd CBPR
19th March
2008
Tel: 01798 874177 |
