DEVELOPMENT
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Red Funnel Freight Vessel Lay-By Berth at East Cowes
As announced by Red Funnel in February 2018, the
Isle of Wight ferry operator has placed an order for a
new Ro-Ro ‘freight only’ ferry. The new ship is designed
to provide additional year-round freight capacity for
Red Funnel’s Southampton-East Cowes route, which
currently handles 53% of all freight movements across
the Solent.
The crossing time of 55-60 minutes will be identical
to Red Funnel’s existing Raptor class Ro-Pax vehicle
ferries and the freight vessel will use the same berths
in Southampton and East Cowes. The new freight-only
service is due to commence in 2019 and is designed
to reduce freight loads on their existing vehicle ferries.
At East Cowes, Red Funnel has proposed the installation of a lay-by berth, to allow the freight vessel to moor in East
Cowes until the vehicle ferry has departed its berth, at which point the freight vessel would transfer to the existing
ferry berth at the terminal to discharge and load freight vehicles.
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