‘Red Jet 6’ to enter service

The latest addition to the British Red Funnel ferry fleet, the ‘Red Jet 6’, successfully completed its first sea trials in June 2016 and will go into service in July.

The high-speed catamaran ferry will run every half hour, ferrying passengers between Southampton on the British mainland and the Isle of Wight. The distance of 9.9 nautical miles will be crossed in 23 minutes.

At over 40 metres in length and able to carry up to 275 passengers, ‘Red Jet 6’ is the largest vessel in Red Funnel’s high-speed fleet.

Powered by four 900kW Series 2000 MTU engines, the catamaran is capable of service speeds up to 38 knots and has twice as many engines as it’s three sister ships which are also powered by MTU.

The ‘Red Jet 6’ was built in Britain by Shemara Refit on the Isle of Wight.