Celebrating a buoyant year for Island's ferry services

Cross-Solent ferry routes have seen a sharp rise in business during a buoyant year for traffic between the mainland and the Isle of Wight.

Southampton-based Red Funnel, with 400 employees, has seen its share of the market grow in the past 12 months.

Wightlink, which operates routes from Lymington and Portsmouth and employs 600 people, has also reported increased vehicle carryings in both the leisure and freight sectors.

Red Funnel carried an additional 30,000 cars on the Southampton-to-East Cowes route, resulting in a seven per cent market share growth, while its high-speed operation saw an increase of six per cent with an extra 7,000 passengers.

Freight grew by eight per cent, with Red Funnel carrying an additional 7,225 vehicles, while passenger numbers on the company's ferries rose by 126,688, a rise of 4.6 per cent.

Olive Glass, Red Funnel's marketing director, said: "Last year was a fantastic 12 months for the Isle of Wight and for Red Funnel.

"We launched our new Red Jet 4 Hi-Speed vessel and stretched the ferry, Red Osprey, as part of a long-term investment programme aimed at meeting demand on the Southampton to Cowes routes.''

Red Falcon, another of the ferry fleet, has left Southampton for Poland where it will undergo stretching and refurbishment work.

The finished vessel will have a capacity to carry another 80 vehicles and is due to re-enter service by Easter, ready for the busy summer period.

Wightlink's figures show an increase of nearly two per cent in car traffic and a growth of 2.65 per cent in the volume of coaches using its two vehicle routes.

The increases on both its Portsmouth-to-Fishbourne and Lymington to Yarmouth crossings brought the year total for car carryings to 1.22 million during 2003. A total of 5.7 million passengers used this and the Portsmouth Harbour-to-Ryde Pier Head catamaran service.

Freight traffic also grew during 2003, with an increase of 3.62 per cent over the previous year's figures.