The Sandbanks Ferry which links Poole with Studland was suspended Friday afternoon after a chain snapped. This meant a horrendous detour journey for many to get to Swanage or back to Poole via busy roads around Poole harbour. The ferry allows a much shorter journey but crossing the harbour mouth at it's most narrow point.
The ferry is usually busy at his time of year but at the run-up to the August Bank Holiday it becomes exceptional and more tourists head for the Purbecks. Queues form very quickly and the ferry company could do without mechanical failure at this time.
Fortunately, the company had a spare chain on site and marine engineers were busy for the rest of the day until about 9 pm when the ferry entered back into service. The ferry pulls itself across the harbour mouth using two chains laying on the sea bed. One of the links in the chains had opened up causing the failure of the ferry.
Buses were laid on to get people returning from Shell Bay back to the Sandbanks side. A small boat also helped in ferrying people across although limited to 10 person at one time. Many motorists had heard of the problem and had kept clear of the area to reduce the inevitable congestion.
The manager for the ferry operators said it is rare for this type fo failure to happen, usually damage to the chain is caused by contact with other vessels.
The ferry is due to be taken out of service for 8 weeks in September to undergo a refit and slipway repairs are undertaken
|
(0 vote)