Ferry collides with yachts & runs aground

PASSENGERS were stranded after their ferry collided with two yachts in dense fog and ran aground metres from port.

Cries for help were heard in the harbour as a yacht sunk and coastguard crews were scrambled.

More than 50 passengers and crew were stranded but unhurt yesterday morning on the Red Falcon ferry at Cowes harbour on the Isle of Wight

After three hours, tug boats pulled the ferry clear and it docked, leaving the mast of the sunken yacht sticking out of the water.

The Coastguard said no one was missing.

Witness Janice Woodford, CAR FERRY Red Falcon 55, said: “My neighbour heard someone shouting ‘help me’.”

Red Funnel said: “I’d like to apologise to all passengers… and emphasise that we give the safety of our passengers and crew the highest priority.”

In September, two people were hurt when another 4,000-tonne Red Funnel car ferry hit their yacht. Two days earlier, a Red Funnel vessel hit a catamaran due to “extremely thick fog”.