FerriesIsle of Wight FerriesPast and PresentWightlink

MV Wight Light – Past and Present

MV Wight Light

© Chris Hunsicker

© Chris Hunsicker

Steel twin ‘Voith Schneider’ motor vessel “W-Wight Class” built in 2008 by Brodogradiliste Shipyard, Kraljevica, Croatia (Yard No 550) as a Passenger/Ro-Ro Cargo Ship

Technical Data

  • Length: 62.4 m (overall) m (between perpendiculars)
  • Breadth: 16.1 m
  • Depth: 4.5 m
  • Draught: 2.3 m
  • Tonnage: 2546 gross/614 net/360 deadweight
  • Engines: 4 x 6-cylinder Volvo D16MHs diesels
  • Power: 2208 kW/HP
  • Propulsion: 2 x Voith Schneider 21 R5/135 propeller units
  • Speed: 11 knots
  • Capacity: 360 passengers/65 cars
  • Crew: 10
  • Call Sign: 2BBX5
  • IMO Number: 9446972
  • Official Number: 914710
  • Port of Registry: London/UK
  • Sister-Ship: Wight Sky, Wight Sun


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

June 26th 2007: Keel struck.

January 26th 2008: Launched.

© Chris Hunsicker

© Chris Hunsicker (Kraljevica, 12/04/2008)

August 2008: Wight Light delivered to Wightlink, London, England.

August 15th 2008: Left builders yard for England.

September 1st 2008: Arrived Lymington.

February 25th 2009: Service between Lymington – Yarmouth.

 

Departing Lymington © Ray Goodfellow

March 12th 2009: Taken out of service for repairs to her hydraulic ramp. Relieved by CENRED (brought back from retirement).

© Derek Sands

© Derek Sands (Yarmouth, 19/11/2011)

November 24th 2014: It was announced that the Wight Light would be transferred to the Portsmouth – Fishbourne service to replace the St Helen.

Wightlink will lose a ferry from its Yarmouth to Lymington route to replace an ageing vessel on its Fishbourne to Portsmouth service.

The ferry company has today (Monday) announced it will re-locate one of its three W-class ships from its West Wight service to take over from the St Helen, which is set to be retired.

The change in fleet will take place from next summer and Wightlink said it would have minimal impact. Passenger numbers on its Yarmouth to Lymington service have fallen by 15 percent according to the company.

Wightlink’s Chief Operating Officer John Burrows said:

“Using our fleet as efficiently as possible next year is vital if we are to continue our programme of modernisation and investment, which has seen us introduce five brand new ships within the last five years. To secure the future of our service, we have a responsibility to match the capacity we provide with customer demand.

Despite considerable price discounting, adapting our timetable to provide better train connections, improved punctuality and continued high reliability, demand is falling on our Yarmouth to Lymington route, with customers preferring to use other routes. As a result of these changes, customers on our Fishbourne to Portsmouth route will enjoy a more modern ship.

Yet, the impact for customers at Yarmouth to Lymington will be minimal. This decision has no impact on our services between October and March and, throughout the summer, we will operate up to 34 sailings a day (17 round trips), on an hourly service.

There will be no changes to the first or last sailings of the day and we will continue to offer the late night sailings on key Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer, which we recently introduced in response to customer requests.”

Source: Isle of Wight Radio

Wight Light

Crew Training, Portsmouth, March 19th 2015 © Ray Goodfellow

January/February/March 2015: Berthing trials.

Wight Light © Robert J Smith

© Robert J Smith (Portsmouth, 07/12/2016)

March 27th 2015: Inaugural sailing between Portsmouth and Fishbourne.

July 2015: Resumed service from Lymington to Yarmouth, replaced at Portsmouth by her sister ship the WIGHT SUN.

July 2019: Currently in service between Lymington and Yarmouth.


All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Chris Hunsicker, Derek Sands, Robert J Smith and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

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

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