A process to replace the Isle of Wight’s Floating Bridge Six is to get underway after a controversial report recommending the vessel be modified was scrutinised at County Hall.
The document was presented to the economy, regeneration, transport and infrastructure committee (ERTIC) on Thursday (October 16), before a unanimous vote to press ahead with a replacement.
It said a modification of the ferry involving ‘additional chains’ would lead to a ‘higher value for money outcome’ and is the ‘preferred option from the perspective of maximising the economic and social benefits of the crossing’.
The paper’s recommendation stated a new vessel is ‘not affordable’ and ‘would not satisfy the legislative requirements to enable borrowing to be taken for the capital costs of purchase’.
Cllr Love, who represents East Cowes, told the chamber: “Officers state (there is) no guarantee of fixing the (Floating Bridge) issues with modifications in this report.
“So, we could take a risk of spending £400,000 to £2 million to try to repair something that there are no guarantees at.”
Council and Alliance group leader Phil Jordan said modifications had been “modelled” and “ruled out” by Southampton University.
“The chain issue can’t be resolved by replacing the chains…we could dispute Southampton University at your peril,” he told the chamber.
Shanklin South Conservative councillor Chris Quirk said he “supported the principle” of replacing the Floating Bridge but said there seemed to be an “undue haste” in “sorting this out”.
“I think we need to consider this again on an ongoing basis when we actually have the facts in front of us…we need to be sure that what we are asking for is actually deliverable,” Cllr Quirk said.
The motion passed at Thursday’s meeting said an update report will be brought to a January 22, 2026 ERTIC meeting.
At that stage, a formal decision could be made on the ‘preferred option’ for the new vessel and starting the tendering process before the beginning of next year’s pre-Isle of Wight Council election period.
Empowering Islanders group leader Cllr Chris Jarman meanwhile highlighted the existing Floating Bridge’s one million pound a year loss.
He said: “I’m very sure that this council could spend one million pounds a year on other things, particularly on children’s services and adult social care, with great efficiency and direction.”
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Cllr Nick Stuart, Liberal Democrat representative for Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet, said: “I utterly respect the efforts of officers and experts in producing this report and all of the efforts that have gone in to try and make things happen.”
But he added that “amending” the Floating Bridge appeared to be “even more risky” than “looking at a new ferry”.
Colin Rowland, strategic director of community services at the Isle of Wight Council, said: “The officer decision in the (ERTIC) report is based on expert findings, technical, economic and financial options appraisal as per Treasury Green Book guidance.
“It’s informed by outcomes from the expert technical reports of economic and financial, it takes due consideration of the current service as the base case – Floating Bridge 6 has been operating around 95 per cent reliability for the past two and a half years, 326 days a year.
“Environmental and operational constraints mean that it may not be possible to deliver marked improvements to overall performance with a new vessel.”
HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance ‘supports proper consideration of the costs, benefits, and trade-offs of alternative options for delivering policy objectives’, according to the government.
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