Plans being drawn up for troubled Cowes floating bridge
A new ferry is being considered
There has been a delay into the publication of a review, which cost nearly £50,000, into the troubled Isle of Wight Floating Bridge – but it could lead to a new ferry between Cowes and East Cowes.
A six-month-long investigation into the ‘two remaining issues’ affecting Floating Bridge 6, ended in December.
Carried out by 3S Services, the review cost the Isle of Wight Council £47,520.
Although the findings have reached County Hall, they will not be published immediately and will instead be combined with future plans for the service.
Earlier this year, the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council said he has hopes for a new, electric replacement.
In his resolutions for 2024, Cllr Phil Jordan said he wants to be able to announce a new approach to delivering, sustaining and improving the service, “which should include a new vessel.”
He said he is seeking support from industry professionals and engineering experts, to bring forward outline suggestions for a service that would “need to be electrically powered.”
Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday (9 January 2024), Colin Rowland, the Isle of Wight Council’s community services director, said it makes sense to put together both the report into the existing problems and the one into what might happen next.
Floating Bridge 6, which was bought into service in 2017, but has been plagued with a number of technical issues which have seen it suspended for weeks at a time.