Wightlink to revise travel timetable following £5m refit to its fleet

Wightlink, which operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne, will run a revised timetable this autumn.

It comes following the announcement of its annual maintenance programme to all eight of its ships.

The work will see all vessels undertake dry docking using local contractors if possible - including a team from Wight Shipyard.

The 2022 to 2023 refit programme will start with the Lymington to Yarmouth ferries and there will be fewer sailings midweek on this route from August 30.

The off-peak timetable comes into operation on September 12 where all of Wightlink’s remaining vessels will in turn be withdrawn from service for refit, ready for next year’s spring and summer season.

Fleet and operations director, John Burrows, said: ‘Every year, Wightlink embarks on a major investment in the maintenance of our fleet.

This year, all of our ships and FastCats will need to be taken out of the water for drydocking so we need to adjust the timetable to achieve this and also allow time for the vessels to reach their refit locations. We apologise if this causes any inconvenience for our customers.’

To find out more about the revised timetable go to www.wightlink.co.uk/refits

Wightlink has operated routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for more than 160 years.

Its eight ferries complete about 100 sailings a day across its three routes.

The operator carries 4.6m passengers to and from the Isle of Wight every year.