November 21st, 2011

Hovertravel

Solent Express

I hear that our Friends at Hovertravel have problems at the moment which we at Island Explorer are very sorry to hear about.  Hovertravel should be regarded as one of the 'jewels' in the Island's crown. You only have to look a the spectators on the footbridge overlooking the terminal at Ryde to see the attention that this great British  invention gets during the tourist season. And it was on the Island where the invention first took to the water and then put into production. Surely then, the hovercraft is part of the Island's heritage.The route between Ryde and Southsea is the oldest scheduled hovercraft service in the world and the only one in Europe. Since commencing operations in July of 1965, the service has had only one major incident, one of only two accidents involving hovercraft elsewhere which regrettably resulted in fatalities. Both of these were attributed to bad weather conditions, something which can affect any form of sea travel. In the current situation, things are slightly different as it is mechanical and ironically it's the newest craft; Solent Express (pictured) which is affected. I understand that one of the propeller shafts failed causing the prop to become detached, something which is of great concern for fairly obvious reasons. It seems though that the relevant authority; the Maritime And Coastguard Agency (MCA) have taken the unusual step of suspending the service pending an investigation to which Hovertravel will no doubt fully co-operate with It has to be said that the two other craft in the fleet; Freedom 90 and Island Express (both AP-1 88's) have both clocked up some 20 years of service and have both recently undergone significant re-furbs. I personally would have no hesitation what so ever in travelling on them with both my children as I have total confidence in Hovertravel's take on safety, that being their most paramount consideration. I'm sure that most Islander's are firmly behind the company and are keen to see the service fully operational again.  

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