Floating Bridge Fiasco: Passengers Stranded After New Isle of Wight Ferry Breaks Down
Chaos hit the Isle of Wight’s brand-new Floating Bridge, nicknamed “Floaty McFloatyface” by locals, just one day after it started service. Passengers were left stranded when the chain link ferry ground to a halt and had to be helped off by staff. Some had to remove their shoes and wade through river water to reach the slipway.
Breakdown Brings Services to a Halt
Ferry operations were suspended immediately after the technical failure, with engineers expected to keep the vessel out of action until at least Monday. This new Floating Bridge was meant to replace the old ferry that had faithfully shuttled between Cowes and East Cowes for 40 years.
Launch Day Disaster
A crowd gathered for the Saturday launch witnessed vehicles scraping their bumpers and undercarriages as they struggled to get on and off the ferry. Isle of Wight Council had promised these “final teething problems” would be fixed before the official launch next month – but the reality was far from smooth.
Independent East Cowes councillor Karl 1 slammed the launch as a “catalogue of disaster.” He said, “Many cars were unable to get on or off the chain ferry without scraping their undercarriages on the ramps. Everyone was desperately wanting this to be a success for the town – everyone was so excited. It was clear from the beginning cars couldn’t get off in a straight line.”
Interim Solutions and Costly Setbacks
Until the Floating Bridge is fixed, a launch service ferrying foot passengers, which has been running since the start of the year, has been reinstated. The new vessel and slipway cost a whopping £4.6 million – with £3.8 million funded by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership.
For now, Isle of Wight commuters will have to stay patient as engineers work to get “Floaty McFloatyface” back on dry, reliable duty.
