FerriesIsle of Wight FerriesPast and PresentSealinkWightlink

MV St Faith – Past and Present

IMO Number: 8907228

MV St Faith

 © Brian Fisher

© Brian Fisher

Steel triple Voith Schneider screw vessel built at Cochrane Yard, Selby, England in 1990 (Yard no.169) for Sealink UK, London, England as a passenger and vehicle ferry

Technical Data

  • Length: 76.09m (overall) 72.40m (between perpendiculars)
  • Breadth of hull: 24.40m (extreme) 117.22m (moulded)
  • Depth: 4.52m
  • Draught: 2.479m
  • Tonnage: 3,009 gross/914 net/574 deadweight
  • Engines: Three 6-cylinder MAN-B&W diesels
  • Power: 2,7000bhp/1,986kW
  • Speed: 12 knots
  • Capacity: 722 passengers, 142 cars 24 trailers via Bow door/ramp/Stern door ramp
  • Call Sign: MMDA5
  • IMO Number: 8907228
  • MMSI Number: 235031618
  • Registry: London/UK 🇬🇧
  • Sister Ships: St Helen (535), St Catherine (534), St Cecilia (135)


Current AIS Location


Please note that this specific vessels AIS position data may be over an hour old and that the vessels position will only be displayed when it is within range of the VesselFinder AIS system. The AIS transponder/ship position data featured on this page is intended for information purposes only and it is in no way related to the 'Safety of Navigation at Sea'. All the AIS ship position data featured within this article is provided by VesselFinder and we are therefore not responsible for its content or its accuracy.


History

February 28th 1990: Launched

Sealink News

Sealink News

July 1990: Delivered 1990 to  Sealink U.K. Ltd., London, England . The seats on the deck are a different colour on all the sisters, the ST HELEN/red,  ST CATHERINE/green, ST CECILIA/yellow and ST FAITH/blue.

GA Plan

July 3rd 1990: Arrived in Portsmouth.

July 11th 1190: Promotional cruise.

July 18th 1990: Commenced service between Portsmouth and Fishbourne.

Photoship

Photoship

November 1991: Sealink becomes Wightlink, Isle of Wight Ferries after Sea Containers sell off Sealink British Ferries to Stena Line (whilst retaining the Isle of Wight services). A new livery is introduced for all vessels.

© Brian Fisher

© Brian Fisher

© Ken Larwood © Ken Larwood

© Ken Larwood

1994: Sea Containers sell Wightlink to a management buy in led by Michael Aiken and financed by venture capitalists CinVen.

© "Ferryman" © "Ferryman"

© “Ferryman”

© Ray Goodfellow

© Ray Goodfellow

2005: Wightlink is acquired by the Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund, a wholesale fund which makes long-term investments in infrastructure and related assets in European OECD Countries.

© "Ferryman" © "Ferryman"

© “Ferryman”

28 March 2010: Landed heavily against fendering whilst attempting to berth at the Camber Basin linkspan in Portsmouth.

Synopsis
At 1412 BST on 28 March 2010, the ro-ro passenger ferry, St Faith, landed heavily against fendering while attempting to berth at the Camber Basin linkspan in Portsmouth. Two persons suffered minor injuries and the vessel’s stern ramp was damaged.

On arrival in Portsmouth Harbour, St Faith’s intended berth was occupied by another ferry. As soon as the berth became available, the master manoeuvred St Faith stern-first into Camber Basin, reaching a maximum speed of 8.4 knots. This was faster than normal and increased the ferry’s radius of turn as she approached the berth. Consequently, the ferry was further south than intended, and a significant amount of lateral thrust was applied using the vessel’s Voith Schneider propulsion units to align the stern ramp with the linkspan. The use of lateral force resulted in insufficient ahead power being available to prevent the ferry’s stern ramp from hitting the linkspan fendering at a speed of about 4.5 knots. Although the master had been on duty for the previous 9 hours, it was not considered likely that fatigue was contributory to this accident.

Action taken:
The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has written to Wightlink Limited strongly advising that, in addition to the action the company has already taken, all available means are used to monitor its vessels’ speed of approach when berthing.

The Marine Accident Investigation report is available here

© "Ferryman"

© “Ferryman”

© Ray Goodfellow © Ray Goodfellow

© Ray Goodfellow

June 7th 2019: Suffered a mechanical issue causing a delay in service of approximately one hour.

November 12th 2019: Left Portsmouth and sailed to Dunkerque for refit.

November 13th 2019: Arrived in Dunkerque

© Julien Carpentier © Julien Carpentier © Julien Carpentier

© Julien Carpentier

December 16th 2019: Left Dunkerque and joined tug WILLPOWER.

December 17th 2019: Arrived Portsmouth.

December 20th 2019: Continued to Southampton (Berth 20). Reported engine problems repair.

January 31st 2020: Sailed from Southampton to Portsmouth to resume services Portsmouth – Fishbourne.

October 19th 2021: “Passengers were unable to disembark in Portsmouth following a mechanical failure of the port’s linkspan. She remained on the berth and engineers had to be sent for spare parts for the equipment.”.

February 19th 2023: Collided with the linkspan in Fishbourne.

February 22nd 2023: Continued in service as a stern loader until repairs could be carried out.

© Dogan © Dogan

🆕 © Dogan (Fishbourne, 17/06/2023)

© Dogan

🆕 © Dogan (Portsmouth, 13/07/2023)

All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions found. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Julien Carpentier, Dogan, “Ferryman”, Brian Fisher and Ken Larwood for their assistance in compiling this feature.

Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group

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