MV St Faith

MV St Faith is a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. As with fellow Wightlink ship St Cecilia, there were plans to increase St Faith′s capacity by increasing her size by 12 metres.[2]

St Faith outbound from Portsmouth Harbour 27 June 2013.
History
Name: MV St Faith
Operator: Wightlink
Port of registry: London
Builder: Cochrane Shipbuilders Ltd, Selby
Launched: 28 February 1990
In service: 1990
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Car Passenger Ferry
Tonnage: 3,009 GT[1]
Length: 77.05 metres (252.8 ft)
Beam: 17.2 metres (56 ft)
Draught: 2.48 metres (8 ft 2 in)
Installed power: 3x 850bhp 6-cyl MAN 6ASL25 diesel engines
Propulsion: 3x Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers
Speed: 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity:
  • 722 passengers
  • 142 cars
  • 12 lorries
Crew: 10-12

The ship was built in 1990 for the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route, the route she has taken throughout her life. St Faith is the second youngest of Wightlink's 'St Class' ships, after St Clare. The name is taken from St Faith's church, Cowes.

Incidents

Hitting hard

On 28 May 2010, it was reported that on arrival at Portsmouth, the St Faith landed heavily with the dock, injuring two passengers and causing minor damage. Following the accident the vessel was temporarily withdrawn from service and paramedics called as a precaution.[3][4]

Breakdown in the middle of the Solent

On 28 February 2015 the St Faith suffered an engine failure in the middle of the Solent around 20 minutes into the 8am crossing to the Isle of Wight. The captain decided to return to Portsmouth. The tug SD Bountiful towed the 25-year-old ferry back to the Gunwharf Quays terminal. The crew switched to St Helen to continue the service. After repairs, St Faith returned to service on 13 March 2015.

Mid-Solent Fire

On 19 January 2017 a fire broke out below the port side bridge wing of St Faith whilst mid-Solent in what was later identified as a cigarette bin. The blaze was swiftly dealt with by the crew. There were 65 people on board the ferry at the time of the incident but there were no casualties.[5]

Two fire appliances from Ryde Fire Station were sent to the scene at Wightlink's Fishbourne ferry terminal alongside the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service's Incident Support Unit from East Cowes. Bembridge Coastguard Rescue Team, the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service and Police also attended the incident.[6]

References
  1. Nick Widdows, [1998] Ferries of the British Isles & Northern Europe; Ferry Publications
  2. "Wightlink - St Faith". www.wightlink.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  3. "Passengers hurt in ferry crash". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  4. "Two hurt as Isle of Wight ferry hits Portsmouth dock". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  5. Schuler, Mike (19 January 2017). "Ferry Evacuated After Fire in the Solent". Maritime Executive. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency says it was notified at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday that a fire had broken out on the Wightlink ferry St Faith while en route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. The vessel continued to the ferry terminal in Fishbourne where a fire fighting crews were able to extinguished the fire. All 65 passengers who were on board the ferry were evacuated and all are reported safe.
  6. "BLACK SMOKE BILLOWS FROM WIGHTLINK FERRY". Island Echo. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
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