harbour 27 june 2013 type limited company industry shipping founded 1991 headquarters portsmouth revenue 59 608 000 2015 1 operating income 12 343 000 2015 net income 11 861 000 2015 total assets 165 179 000 2015 total equity 165 166 000 2015 owner balfour beatty infrastructure partners number of employees between 600 750 website www.wightlink.co.uk footnotes references wightlink s house flag wightlink is a ferry company operating routes between hampshire and the isle of wight in southern england . their core routes are car ferries from lymington to yarmouth 40 minutes and portsmouth to fishbourne 45 minutes . a fast passenger only catamaran operates between portsmouth harbour and ryde pier head taking 22 minutes and directly links into the island line rail line . contents 1 history 2 current fleet 2.1 vehicle ferries 2.2 high speed craft 3 historic fleet 3.1 lymington yarmouth 3.2 portsmouth ryde 3.3 portsmouth fishbourne 3.4 langston harbour bembridge 4 figures 5 references 5.1 notes 5.2 bibliography 6 external links history edit wightlink and its forerunners have provided ferry services to and from the isle of wight for more than 160 years . 2 in the early nineteenth century ferries ran to the island from lymington and portsmouth . later steam ferries operated a circular route around lymington yarmouth cowes ryde and portsmouth . when the rail companies became involved they concentrated on two direct routes lymington yarmouth and portsmouth ryde . 2 ownership of the ferries eventually passed from the british railways board to sealink uk limited . in 1984 sealink uk limited was denationalised and the operating name became sealink british ferries which was subsequently bought by the bermuda based sea containers ltd. when stena line bought sealink british ferries in 1990 the isle of wight ferries remained with sea containers as wightlink . 2 in june 1995 wightlink was the subject of a management buy in . in 2005 it was bought by the macquarie european infrastructure fund for an estimated 240 000 000 . 2 in 2004 wightlink renewed its sponsorship of the wightlink raiders ice hockey team citation needed in 2005 a wightlink car ferry featured briefly in the film fragile starring calista flockhart . 3 in october 2006 wightlink announced its intention to build two new ferries for the yarmouth to lymington route . these ships are slightly bigger than their predecessors with extra vehicle space but will only accommodate 360 passengers compared to 500 on the older vessels . wightlink later announced that a third new ferry would enter service in spring 2009 . a dispute with some lymington residents led to delay and threatened the viability of the route . 4 5 in november 2008 the service was reduced so only two ships were required allowing for the delay in the introduction of the new vessels . 6 sea trials were not complete by november 2008 and introduction became pressing with the expiry of safety certificates on the previous fleet . wightlink proposed interim arrangements enabling them restricted use of the new ferries until the trials can be completed in full . 7 the previous wightlink logo replaced at around the time the new ferries were arriving . in march 2008 wightlink revealed that an order has been placed with fbma marine to construct two new passenger catamarans for the portsmouth to ryde service to replace the three craft currently employed . they entered service in 2009 . from may 2008 wightlink introduced a fuel surcharge on all crossings linked to the price of brent crude oil . 8 however in november 2008 the surcharge dropped to zero following the sharp reduction in crude prices during the credit crunch and as of november 2009 is still at zero . wightlink planned to spend 17.5 m on improving their portsmouth to fishbourne route . 9 this involved remodelling the terminal facilities at both fishbourne and portsmouth . their flagship st clare was to have its upper car deck adjusted so vehicles access it directly from on shore ramps . two of the older ferries were to be stretched in length by 12 metres with upper car decks similar to st clare s being added replacing movable mezzanine decks . of the remaining two ferries st catherine has been sold and st helen was used mainly for freight until she too was sold . 10 11 on 15 may 2015 wightlink announced a revised investment of 45m to include the purchase a new ferry upgrading st clare and modifications to the terminals at both ends to facilitate double deck loading . 12 on monday 16 february 2015 wightlink was sold by the macquarie european infrastructure fund to balfour beatty infrastructure partners for an undisclosed sum . 13 current fleet edit wight ryder i and wight ryder ii at portsmouth harbour in august 2009 prior to entry into service wight light the first of the new ferries launched in 2008 for the lymington to yarmouth route vehicle ferries edit wight sky at yarmouth harbour wightlink s former st catherine ferry . cenwulf one of the former lymington yarmouth ferries our lady pamela crossing the solent st helen in foreground and st faith 2013 st clare july 2013 . st cecilia july 2013 . ferry current route current status notes mv st cecilia portsmouth fishbourne in service mv st clare portsmouth fishbourne in service top car deck has been extended mv st faith portsmouth fishbourne in service mv wight sun portsmouth fishbourne in service covering for mv st helen mv wight light yarmouth lymington in service mv wight sky yarmouth lymington in service high speed craft edit catamaran current route current status hsc wight ryder i ryde portsmouth in service hsc wight ryder ii ryde portsmouth in service the introduction of the wight class ferries was a much discussed affair with some lymington residents claiming that the increased size of the ferries posed a risk both in environmental terms and to users of pleasure craft on the lymington river . historic fleet edit the following ferries have operated historically on routes run by wightlink or previous companies that have been absorbed by wightlink . 14 15 lymington yarmouth edit ship service company notes ps glasgow 1830 1850 solent steam packet co ps red lion 1858 1880 solent steam packet co ps solent 1841 1861 solent steam packet co ps solent 1863 solent steam packet co scrapped ps mayflower 1866 solent steam packet co ps lymington 1893 london and south western railway ps solent 1902 london and south western railway ps freshwater 1927 1959 southern railway sold and renamed sussex queen renamed swanage queen mv lymington 1938 1973 southern railway first voith schneider driven ferry . sold and renamed sound of sanda pmv farringford 1948 1974 british transport commission mv freshwater 1959 1983 british transport commission 2x 320bhp 8cyl crossley diesels mv cenwulf 1973 2009 wightlink scrapped 2010 mv cenred 1974 2009 wightlink scrapped 2010 mv caedmon 1983 2009 wightlink scrapped 2010 portsmouth ryde edit ship service company notes ps arrow 1825 1851 portsmouth & ryde steam packet co ps union 1825 portsmouth & ryde steam packet co ps lord yarborough 1826 1851 portsmouth & ryde steam packet co ps lord spencer 1833 ps prince albert 1847 1868 portsmouth & ryde steam packet co ps prince of wales 1850 portsea portsmouth gosport & isle of wight steam packet co ps princess royal 1850 portsea portsmouth gosport & isle of wight steam packet co ps her majesty 1850 1883 portsmouth & ryde steam packet co ps prince consort 1859 1882 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps princess of wales 1865 1885 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps duke of edinburgh 1869 1884 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps princess alice 1869 1882 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps ventnor 1873 1879 southsea & isle of wight steam packet co ps shanklin 1873 1879 southsea & isle of wight steam packet co ps ryde 1873 1879 southsea & isle of wight steam packet co ps southsea 1873 1879 southsea & isle of wight steam packet co ss princess louise 1873 1874 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ss princess beatrice 1874 1874 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps heather bell 1875 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps albert edward 1878 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co ps alexandra 1879 1913 port of portsmouth & ryde united steam packet co sold to cosens & co ltd ps victoria 1881 1899 joint railway companies steampacket service ps duchess of edinburgh 1884 1910 joint railway companies steampacket service ps duchess of connaught 1884 1910 joint railway companies steampacket service ps duchess of albany 1890 1927 joint railway companies steampacket service ps princess margaret 1893 1927 joint railway companies steampacket service ps duchess of kent 1897 1933 joint railway companies steampacket service sold and renamed clacton queen ps duchess of fife 1890 1929 joint railway companies steampacket service ps duchess of richmond 1910 1915 joint railway companies steampacket service mined in the mediterranean ps duchess of norfolk 1911 1937 joint railway companies steampacket service sold and renamed embassy . scrapped june 1967 ps shanklin 1924 1950 southern railway sold and renamed monarch ps merstone 1928 1952 southern railway ps portsdown 1928 1941 southern railway mined off southsea ps southsea 1930 1941 southern railway j113 hms southsea mined off the river tyne ps whippingham 1930 1962 southern railway j136 hms whippingham in ww2 ps sandown 1934 1965 southern railway j20 hms sandown in ww2 evacuated 3000 men at dunkirk ps ryde 1937 1969 southern railway j132 hms ryde in ww2 mv brading 1948 1986 british transport commission mv southsea 1948 1988 british transport commission mv shanklin 1951 1980 british transport commission sold and renamed prince ivanhoe hsc our lady patricia 1986 2008 wightlink scrapped 2006 hsc our lady pamela 1986 2008 wightlink scrapped 2008 hsc fastcat shanklin 1996 2009 wightlink sold and renamed sochi 2 hsc fastcat ryde 1996 2010 wightlink sold and renamed rapparee resold and renamed sochi 1 portsmouth fishbourne edit ship service company notes mv fishbourne 1927 1961 southern railway sent to dunkirk in 1940 . 2x 120bhp gardner 4t7 semi diesels mv wootton 1928 1961 southern railway sent to dunkirk in 1940 . 2x 120bhp gardner 4t7 semi diesels mv hillsea 1930 1961 southern railway 2x 120bhp gardner 4t7 semi diesels mv fishbourne 1961 1983 british transport commission imo5115587 2x 320bhp 8cyl crossley diesels mv camber queen 1961 1984 british transport commission 2x 320bhp 8cyl crossley diesels mv cuthred 1969 1986 wightlink mv caedmon 1973 1983 wightlink mv st catherine 1983 2010 wightlink sold to delcomar and renamed gb conte mv st helen 1983 2015 wightlink sold to delcomar and renamed anna mur langston harbour bembridge edit ship service company notes tf carrier 1885 1888 isle of wight marine transit co ex firth of tay train ferry . scrapped 1888 due to being ill suited for the solent figures edit every year wightlink carries 4.8 million passengers 16 over 1.2 million cars almost 200 000 coaches and freight vehicles annual revenue 51 million references edit notes edit annual accounts 2015 . open corporates . a b c d history . wightlink . retrieved 29 march 2009 . fragile a belated isle of wight film review . isle of wight guru . retrieved 2016 03 08 . threat to ferry route . isle of wight county press . 7 november 2008 . retrieved 1 april 2009 . isle of wight mp andrew turner asks why introduction of new wightlink ferry is being delayed . isle of wight county press . 14 november 2008 . archived from the original on 2 april 2015 . retrieved 21 november 2008 . new lymington timetable . wightlink . archived from the original on 17 december 2008 . retrieved 21 november 2008 . andrew wilson 20 november 2008 . press statement