Wight Shipyard Co (WSC) has showcased its maintenance and repair capabilities during a refit for one of the Isle of Wight’s leading ferry operators.
The Wightlink FastCat catamaran, Wight Ryder 1, underwent its annual refit at the Trafalgar Shipyard in mid-November in a fast and efficient turnaround taking less than three weeks.
Responsible operation
During this year’s refit, WSC took advantage of the space and facilities available at the Trafalgar yard in Portsmouth Harbour.
The focus of this refit was spread across a number of areas, with upgrades including modifications to the hydraulic piping system.
Wightlink’s fleet technician team leader, Chris Ancrum, said: "We were impressed with the professionalism and attention to detail from the team from WSC.
"Their engineers completed a variety of complex tasks with skill and finished the job on time and on budget.
"We are pleased to work with an Island company to keep our FastCats in good condition."
One stop shop
Next year will see the completion of a new Wise boat lift on Venture Quays in East Cowes, with the capacity to lift a maximum weight 260-tons, length 55m and beam 13.5m.
This represents an increase of up to 190-tons and allows much larger FastCats and similar craft to be lifted out for repair.
Earlier this year WSC achieved a UK first by building four ferries simultaneously at its own yard for a leading Maltese tour operator.
The order, which is WSC’s largest ferry export order to date, consisted of two 20 metre and two 33 metre lightweight ferries, designed by One2Three Naval Architects.
No other UK shipbuilder in living memory has been able to simultaneously produce four ferries in only nine months.
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