Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
to
Fishbourne Fishbourne may refer to:
Places
* Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, a village
* Fishbourne, West Sussex, a village
** Fishbourne (UK electoral ward)
* Fishbourne Roman Palace
Fishbourne Roman Palace or Fishbourne Villa is in the village of Fishbourne ...
route operated by
Wightlink
Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates Roll-on/roll-off, car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Yarmouth, and Portsmouth a ...
. She entered service on 26 August 2018. Built by the
Cemre Shipyard
Cemre Shipyard () is a shipyard in Altınova, on the shore of the Sea of Marmara in Yalova Province, Turkey. Established in 2005, they now specialise in low- and zero-emission, battery and hybrid vessels for the world market.
History
Cemre signe ...
in
Yalova
Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District. she is the newest ship in the fleet and completed Wightlink's £45 million investment in the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. In addition, upon introduction into service ''Victoria of Wight'' became the largest ship in the fleet and the new
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
.
While she is the broadest vessel to make regular crossings to the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, she is not the longest passenger ship, with Red Funnel's ''Raptor'' class ferries exceeding ''Victoria of Wight'' in length. The ''Victoria of Wight'' is notable for its use of a hybrid technology, combining battery power and conventional engines. This results in the ship being both quieter and releasing fewer emissions than the rest of Wightlink's fleet.
History
The ''Victoria of Wight'' originated as part of Wightlink's £45 million investment, which aimed to improve facilities at Portsmouth terminal with a new building, and to introduce new double tier boarding ramps at Fishbourne and Portsmouth for quicker boarding of the St Clare and the new ferry. 22 tenders were received to construct the ship with Cemre Shipyard in
Yalova
Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District.
Later the new ferry was renamed the ''Victoria of Wight'' in a staff competition held by Wightlink. The name is in recognition of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
's history on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
, who would retreat to
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house in the style ...
during the summer.
After being launched in February 2018, she was fitted out, carrying out sea trials in the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
. On 16 July 2018, ''Victoria of Wight'' departed the Cemre shipyard to finally be transported to the
Solent
The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...
for crew training and introduction into service. Being towed by ''Amber II'', a specialist tug, the journey took 25 days to complete.
On 26 August 2018, the ''Victoria of Wight'' began its maiden voyage on the 10:30 service from
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
to
Fishbourne Fishbourne may refer to:
Places
* Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, a village
* Fishbourne, West Sussex, a village
** Fishbourne (UK electoral ward)
* Fishbourne Roman Palace
Fishbourne Roman Palace or Fishbourne Villa is in the village of Fishbourne ...
, entering regular service. During the autumn, it was taken out of service during the weekdays to allow for more crew to be trained to operate it.
On 1 November 2019, during an early morning crossing from Fishbourne, the ''Victoria of Wights propulsion system suffered a fault. She arrived in Portsmouth under reduced power accompanied by a tug, leading to the cancellation of further crossings that day.
Technical
The ship is a diesel electric vessel operating at 690v 50Hz.
Four generators and two hybrid systems are coupled together to four variable speed propulsion motors via a tied, 4 section 690v BUS, coupled FWD to AFT with tie breakers, with LLC transformers strapping across each half.
The hybrid elements of the ship's powertrain are powered by a pair of 409 kWh battery arrays by Corvus Energy. The Orca Energy batteries provide support to four 1140KW 6 cylinder Wärtsilä diesel generators via, 1.5MW drives with active front ends following the generators, and DCDC choppers that take the 880v DC from the batteries and make it usable.
In operation the batteries supplement electrical load all the time in order to run the generators at the most efficient load, working as “generators” and parasitic load when recharging from the generators when engine load is light.
The vessel can supply all electrical load in port purely from stored battery energy, reducing in-port engine emissions.