A RED Funnel ferry has been removed from service after a technical error was discovered.

The Red Eagle ferry has gone under immediate investigation today after a fault was discovered and in order to allow for diagnostics and repair work to be carried out, the vessel must be temporarily removed from service.

As the Red Osprey ferry is out of service due to repairs, the company will be operating a one-boat “shuttle service” via Red Falcon until further notice.

The vessel will depart from Southampton and East Cowes approximately every three hours, with the next scheduled departure from East Cowes expected at 2pm and Southampton, 3.30pm.

Leanna Lakes, Operations Director, Red Funnel said: “We sincerely apologise for this additional disruption to our vehicle ferry service between Southampton and East Cowes, especially as we are already contending with the disruption to our network.

"Our teams shore-side and on board continue to work their hardest to get passengers to their destinations as quickly and as safely as possible and we wish to thank all our customers in advance for their patience and understanding. We hope to have a second vessel back in operation from this evening and are completely focused on achieving this.

"We promise to keep customers informed of our progress and ask that they bear with our front-line teams as they do their very best to adapt to this stressful situation. We are working very hard to fix this and apologise again for the impact that this will have on our customers’ plans.”

Red Funnel teams are reaching out to all affected customers to notify them of the changes and has updated its website with today’s revised crossing times, along with advice on when to arrive at the terminal.

Customers wishing to amend their booking due to this situation can do so free of charge, with no additional amendment fees.

Customers wishing to cancel their booking can also do so and receive a full refund, with no added cancellation fees. Any customers wishing to amend their booking for today should get in touch with Red Funnel’s Contact Centre team at 02380 019192.

Customers without a booking are being ask to not arrive to the vehicle ferry terminals, as booking is essential at this time. This advice applies to all passengers travelling with private vehicles, including motorcycles and scooters, as well as pushbikes.