C53 53 C CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html)Wightlink, with its predecessors, has been operating ferry services for over 160 years! From as early as 1796, ferries have been operating across the Solent, linking the Isle of Wight to the mainland. In the early nineteenth century, the poor road systems encouraged people to travel by sea between Lymington, a beautiful port in the New Forest area, and Portsmouth. Originally, steam ferries operated a circular route around Lymington, Yarmouth, Cowes, Ryde and Portsmouth, the rail companies themselves became involved in the operation of the ferries, with individual routes appearing between Lymington and Yarmouth and Portsmouth and Ryde.
Ownership of the ferries eventually passed from the British Railways Board to Sealink UK Limited. In 1984, when Sealink UK Limited was de-nationalised, the operating name became Sealink British Ferries and was subsequently bought by the Bermudan based ‘Sea Containers limited’. In 1990 Stena Line bought Sealink British Ferries, but the Isle of Wight Ferries remained with Sea Containers, who then renamed the company ‘Wightlink’. June 1995 saw an exciting development in the company’s history, when as the subject of a management buy-in it became a private and independent company for the first time in history.
The company has progressed from its early pioneering days of steam travel to operate a modern fleet of eight car and passenger ferries between Lymington & Yarmouth and Portsmouth & Fishbourne (historically, the youngest of the routes) and four high-speed catamarans, between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier.
In 1982, Wightlink Holidays was established, offering an easy to book package of holiday accommodation combined with the return ferry crossing.
Now, Wightlink carries almost 5 ½ million passengers, over one million cars and some 180,000 coaches and freight lorries annually on its three routes to the Island. With twelve ships in the fleet and a revenue of some £36 million per annum, it is a large and important business.
Fishbourne (England) - Portsmouth (England)Lymington (England) - Yarmouth (England)Portsmouth (England) - Fishbourne (England)Portsmouth (England) - Ryde (England)Ryde (England) - Portsmouth (England)Yarmouth (England) - Lymington (England)
25-11-2003: ARTS FESTIVAL PARADE KICKS OFF RYDE REGATTA25-11-2003: FREE FOR ALL ON A WIGHTLINK BARGAIN BREAK TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT THIS SUMMER16-07-2003: ENJOY AN EXPLOSIVE NIGHT OUT ON WIGHTLINK’S FIREWORKS CRUISE16-07-2003: HAVE A ‘DAY OUT WITH THOMAS’ ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT16-07-2003: MAKE FRIENDS WITH AN OWL ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT
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