Visitors to Cowes Harbour on the Isle of Wight cannot fail to notice the imposing Columbine Building on the waterfront at East Cowes. This was built by Saunders Roe in 1935 for the construction of Flying Boats including the largest ever example fabricated from metal, the Princess Flying Boat.

Production later gravitated towards hovercraft, including the cross-channel SRN4 craft. The doors on the front of the building were adorned with a giant Union Flag in 1977 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and this was restored to its former glory to celebrate a truly historic British year on the occasion of HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Once the hovercraft industry had left the site, other maritime industries were among the occupants. The shores of the River Medina in Cowes have been home to a variety of well-known shipbuilders/shipyards through history, including J. Samuel White’s and the Fairey Group. Founded in the 1940s, the latter went into receivership in 1975 with the rest of the Fairey Group, but re-emerged as Fairey Allday Marine. In 1986 the yard was acquired by the Marinteknik Group and renamed Fairey Marinteknik before passing to Brooke Marine in 1987 and renamed FBM Marine in 1988. The site built assorted craft including lifeboats, the present Cowes Floating Bridge, patrol vessels and fast passenger ferries for the UK, Portugal, Greece, Asia and Hong Kong. When acquired by Babcock International in 2000, FBM of Cowes was closed and work was transferred to Rosyth Dockyard as FBM Babcock Marine. Boatbuilding continued through other companies, but largely craft connected with Offshore Industries etc, such as the products of South Boats. One of the latter’s newbuilds was converted for ferry use in 2015 (Scoot 1) but her designed purpose was as a personnel transfer vessel.

Fast Ferry Building Comes Home

After an absence of 15 years, the fast ferry industry was revived in Cowes on 27th May 2015 when Kevin George, CEO of Cowes- Southampton ferry operator Red Funnel Ferries, announced in front of the famous Union Flag doors of the Columbine Building (Venture Quays) that the company’s next highspeed craft would be constructed there. The new 40m long Red Jet would be built “for the Isle of Wight, by the Isle of Wight, on the Isle of Wight,” an extremely proud day for all concerned, complete with the creation of up to 50 jobs including apprenticeships.

The £6.1m tender to build the new catamaran was won by Shemara Refit LLP, a company established in 2010 as the result of a unique project to manage the revival of a magnificent motor yacht to her former glory. Built in 1938 by JI Thornycroft, Shemara was once one of the world’s largest and most famous private yachts. This classic motor yacht had rarely been out of the glamorous spotlight in her infancy. But over the course of time, and several changes of ownership, Shemara found herself languishing for almost twenty years in Lowestoft, UK until being bought in 2007 by a leading British entrepreneur, Sir Charles Dunstone. Shemara’s acquisition started a monumental journey of restoration taking one million man hours which has seen her reconfigured, refreshed, and largely rebuilt. With a reputation for excellent management capabilities and quality workmanship Shemara Refit LLP also serves the commercial sector, work that includes newbuild and refit projects that are managed alongside the yacht revival tasks.

The company has a facility at Ocean Quay on the River Itchen, Southampton and leased the Columbine Building in East Cowes for two years to undertake the building of the Red Jet. Other projects at the latter have included the overhauls of MBNA Thames Clipper’s three FBM Marine Ltd (Cowes) built catamarans (Storm Clipper, Sky Clipper & Star Clipper). Red Funnel’s Red Jet era was born at FBM in Cowes so being able to return to the River Medina for its next chapter, and bring the fast ferry industry back in the same move, was a major achievement.

Red Funnel can trace its routes back to 1820 as an Isle of Wight ferry operator with the first attempt at a fast passenger launch service taking place 1933-38. The Red Jet era began with the 1991/92 Red Jet 1 and Red Jet 2 that were 32.5m long, 168gt Solent Class catamarans that could carry 138 passengers. These replaced the Italian built Shearwater hydrofoils as Red Funnel’s front line hi-speed product on the Cowes-Southampton passenger service. Their introduction also saw the end of the vehicle ferries calling at (West) Cowes to pick up/set down passengers on the East Cowes-Southampton route.

The Red Jets, powered by two MTU 12V 396TE84L 4 stroke direct injection liquid cooled turbocharged intercooled diesels, needed to use the same berth as they were too big for the hydrofoil pontoon. The hydrofoil era (Shearwater 1-6) began in 1969 with the last two, Shearwater 5 and Shearwater 6, being withdrawn in 1999. A third Red Jet, the Red Jet 3, was built at FBM in 1998. Built as Yard No. 1439, this modernised 38 knot and 213gt Solent Class catamaran is 32.9m long, accommodates 190 passengers and is powered by two MTU 12V 396 Series TE 74L 4 stroke direct injection liquid cooled turbocharged intercooled diesels each developing 1,500 Kw at 2,000 rpm. Red Jet 3 remains in service in the present day and was joined by the larger Red Jet 4 as from 23rd June 2003. The 39.88m long, 38 knot, 342gt and 275 passenger capacity Red Jet 4 was built by North West Bay Ships in Tasmania and she was shipped to Southampton aboard the Egmondgracht on the 9th May 2003.

Power is provided by two MTU 12V 4000 M70 4 stroke direct injection liquid cooled turbocharged intercooled diesels each developing 1,740 kW at 2,000 rpm. The “odd ball” came in the form of the Red Jet 5 in July 2009. The Solent Class vessel was built under licence by FBM at the Pequot River Shipworks, New London, Connecticut, USA in 1999. The 32.9m long, 35 knot, 209gt and 187 seater craft was commissioned for Bahamas Ferries as the Bo Hengy, and was retired in 2008. Power is provided by two MTU/DDC 4000 Series 4 stroke direct injection liquid cooled turbocharged intercooled diesels developing 3,476 kW at 2,000 rpm. DDC supplied the engine management and monitoring. The Red Jet 1 and 2 were sold for service in the Caspian Sea in 2009 and the Red Jet 5 was sold to Italian ferry operator Toremar in June 2016 and shipped out of Southampton on 9th July aboard the 2,981gt/2007 built Deo Volente.

New Era, New Look

After the big announcement regarding the new Red Jet, construction began almost immediately with the keel laying also taking place in May 2015. The hulls were constructed on one side of the building hall and the superstructure was built alongside. Progress was swift, on schedule and on 5th April Red Funnel released details of a stylish new livery for the Red Jet fleet with Red Jet 6 (well, what else would she be called?!) to be the first to carry this.

The livery styling is inspired by the rooster-tail wake common to waterjet propelled craft. The passenger cabin was united with the hulls on 30th April. The passenger accommodation is resiliently mounted on rubber shock absorbers and insulated from the hulls to reduce vibration and cabin noise. On 24th May the completed Red Jet 6 emerged from her birthplace at the Columbine Building in East Cowes. The event provided the first glimpse in daylight of both the craft and the new livery design. The next day the craft was transferred onto a barge whilst sat on a wheeled cradle and then towed across to Empress Dock, Southampton. There she was craned into the water and towed back to East Cowes and moored at the pontoon outside of Venture Quays for completion and trials.

The craft has an overall length of 41.12m, a beam of 10.87m, a loaded draught of 1.30m and a freeboard of 2.50m. The 6th Red Jet is largely styled on the 2003 built Red Jet 4 and is the largest and most innovative high-speed vessel yet, offering ground breaking levels of passenger comfort, reliability and safety. She will also be the greenest ship in Red Funnel’s fleet with a host of design features to reduce fuel consumption and protect the environment in line with the company’s ISO 1400:1 accreditation. The aluminium hull is slightly longer than that of Red Jet 4 to improve efficiency. Like her sisters, the Red Jet 6 uses waterjets (MJP 500 DRB) rather than propellers to aid manoeuvrability and provide impressive stopping power whilst keeping wash to an absolute minimum.

In a break with tradition, she is fitted with four main engines, namely MTU 10V 2000 M72 direct injection liquid cooled turbocharged diesels, each developing 900kW @ 2,250rpm, rather than two. MTU is part of the Friedrichshafen (Germany) based Rolls Royce Power Systems, itself part of the Rolls Royce Group. Their 2000 M72 series of engines are designed specifically for fast ferries. The ten cylinder engine has a 135mm bore, a 156mm stroke and a displacement total of 22.3 litres. Each engine will power a separate MJP 500 waterjet unit. This configuration will help reduce fuel consumption by 11% vs. Red Jet 4 and 30% vs. Red Jet 5, provide high levels of in-service reliability and ensure emissions comply with the IMO Tier II regulations. Debris being sucked in is the Achilles heel of waterjet propulsion so to have four units means that, should one become disabled or an engine develops a problem, the craft can remain in service. The MJP 500 waterjet units are equipped with a double reverse bucket with inboard hydraulics and the duplex stainless steel jets boast superior resilience to wear.

The jets are also mixed flow with minimum blade clearance for the best available jet performance. Other technical innovations to help reduce fuel consumption include the use of vinyl instead of paint for the superstructure to reduce weight and the application of the latest Teflon hull coatings to minimise drag through the water. On board power is provided by two Perkins Sabre 4.4TWGM 63kW 415v 3 phase 50Hz generators. These four cylinder diesel units have a 100mm bore, a 127mm stroke and a cubic capacity of 4.4 litres. The Red Jet 6 is configured to carry 275 passengers in a quiet, spacious and well-lit cabin fitted with leather seats and a sophisticated air-handling system designed to dry, cool or warm the air automatically. The windows are tinted with blown air whilst the bridge windows are also electrically heated. A new high bandwidth ship-to-shore Wi-Fi system has also been provided which is free for customers and the latest travel information system will be installed and displayed on five LED flat screen monitors to show connecting services for buses, coaches, trains and flights in real-time. Eight CCTV cameras monitor the passenger area plus additional coverage of the engine rooms.

A refreshment cubicle is also fitted on the starboard end of the large centrally located luggage rack so that refreshments and hot and cold beverages can be served by the Cabin Attendant (as with Red Jet 3 & 4). Passenger access will generally be via a spacious centrally located doorway on the port side at each berth. At the request of passengers, Red Jet 6 is also the first in the fleet to have a toilet facility installed, aft of the passenger seating. The bridge is located atop the passenger area with state-of-the-art controls and displays plus the added bonus of control consoles in each bridge wing in addition to the standard centrally located control positions for Commander and Mate. As with Red Jet 4, the upper deck aft is an open area that can see use for special occasions/events but not when travelling at service speed! The expected service life of the Red Jet 6 is 20-25 years. The Cowes-Southampton Hi-Speed route is 9.9 nautical miles, a journey that takes 23-25 minutes at 33.5 knots, with a scheduled 5 minute turnaround time at each port. There are generally departures every 30 minutes during the day & every 60 minutes in the early morning & evening and on Sundays. On average 23,700 Red Jet sailings operate per annum, consisting of 234,630 nautical miles and 45,864 crew hours. During a 12 month period each Red Jet consumes around 4.4 million litres of diesel fuel and 14,600 litres of lube oil.

A Red Jet Day

Following sea and berthing trials throughout June, the Red Jet 6 was christened at the Trinity Landing Stage on Cowes Parade by HRH The Princess Royal on 4th July. The event also included a visit by the Red Devils parachute team and a flypast by a Spitfire. In the afternoon guests were taken out into the Solent aboard the Red Jet 6 and the charter vessels Ashleigh-R and Wight Scene. The former Red Funnel vessel Balmoral was originally chartered for this purpose but berthing issues caused her involvement to be cancelled. During the two hours in the Solent the Red Jet 6 rubbed shoulders with Sir Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR America’s Cup racing vessel plus the large trimaran Phaedo 3 that had smashed the Round Island Yacht Race record two days earlier. After her big day, trials for the Red Jet 6 continued prior to a gradual entry into service during July 2016 to get the vessel settled into her working life. Upon her delivery, also on 4th July, plans for the anticipated Red Jet 7 were revealed.

Special thanks must go to Stephanie Buck and all at Four Communications PR, Red Funnel and Justin Merrigan of Shemara Refit for the invaluable assistance with information and images.

Technical Specifications