1983


The arrival of St Catherine causes a sensation; she is the first Island ferry to carry over 100 cars. Four months later, her even larger sister St Helen joins the fleet


1991


Sealink becomes Wightlink and gains a new livery for all vessels


2001


Wightlink introduces St Clare, the largest ferry to serve the Island


2009


The three new Wight class ferries enter service on the Yarmouth- Lymington service in February followed by new catamarans Wight Ryder I and II at Ryde-Portsmouth in September


CEO’s introduction


I am delighted to announce Wightlink’s plans to introduce the most environmentally friendly ferry ever to serve the Isle of Wight and to ask you for your views on our project to modernise and improve the service we offer to our customers on our Fishbourne - Portsmouth Gunwharf routes.


With roots reaching back to 1830, Wightlink has a long and proud history of providing a lifeline service for Islanders and bringing tourists to the Island. We provide more services on more routes than any other operator, sailing around the clock every day except Christmas Day.


Since 2009, we have bought five new ships for our Ryde Pier Head - Portsmouth Harbour and Yarmouth - Lymington route, and we have updated our ports and terminals. We now plan to invest in modernising our popular Fishbourne - Portsmouth Gunwharf route. With its short crossing time and convenient ports, this is a vital route for the Island and for Wightlink.


Our plans represent a two year, £45m investment programme. They include the introduction of a new ship designed especially for the route, increasing the capacity of St Clare, and improvements to our Fishbourne


and Portsmouth Gunwharf terminals. They are designed to improve punctuality further and to provide more capacity when our customers want to travel.


Our proposed improvements will make travel to and from the Island even more of a pleasure and will increase its attractiveness as a tourist destination. Importantly, the plans require the successful completion of some very thorough environmental and planning work.


The next few pages set out our plans in more detail and ask for your views and comments on our proposals. I hope you will be able to attend one of the meetings we are organising (you can find out more at www.wightlink.co.uk/iftf ) or will share your views with us by email or letter by Friday 19 June 2015.


I hope too that, once you have read more, you will share our excitement about the potential our plans offer for your travelling experience and for the future of the Isle of Wight.


Russell Kew


2017 All works complete New ship into service WWW.WIGHTLINK.CO.UK/IFTF IFTF@WIGHTLINK.CO.UK WRITE TO US 3


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