‘Bizarre incident’ halts ferry as lorry crashes into trailer on Red Eagle
As previously reported[1], the incident happened while the Red Eagle vehicle ferry was docked at East Cowes, forcing Red Funnel to suspend crossings and cancel five sailings. Cancellations included the 9am and 10am sailings from Southampton, and the 9.30am, 10.30am, and 11.30am sailings from East Cowes. Red Funnel confirmed that no one was injured during the incident.
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An eyewitness told the County Press : "It was a bizarre incident. The lorry seemed to jump forward onto the back of the trailer. "Gladly, nobody was hurt."
Another witness said that while the vehicles involved were removed from Red Eagle, other ferries had nowhere to dock, causing the service to be delayed or cancelled. A spokesperson for Red Funnel said earlier: "An incident occurred this morning involving two vehicles on board Red Eagle, in East Cowes, which means that Red Eagle must remain alongside whilst we await specialist expertise. "As a result, we have had to initiate a full suspension of our vehicle ferry service."
In an update issued later, Red Funnel confirmed that the situation had been resolved, and normal services were resuming. A spokesperson added: "Thanks to the swift action of our team, we are pleased to confirm that the two vehicles have been safely removed from Red Eagle, and our vehicle ferry service has resumed in full. "We are communicating directly with customers and would like to thank passengers for their patience while we resolved the incident."
Red Funnel's East Cowes to Southampton route is now running to timetable.
References
- ^ As previously reported (www.countypress.co.uk)