Survitec Supplies Lifesaving Essentials to Wightlink’s New Flagship Vessel, Victoria of Wight

Safety solutions provider Survitec has been selected by Wightlight, one of the UK’s largest domestic ferry operators, to supply lifesaving essentials to their new flagship vessel, Victoria of Wight. Included within Wightlink’s 45 multi-million-pound investment in the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route, the Victoria of Wight is powered solely through hybrid energy, and can carry up to 278 cars and more than a thousand passengers.

With a focus on safety and reliability, Survitec has been working with Wightlink for a number of years and has been providing marine evacuation system (MES) solutions, including essential training, to hundreds of passenger crews since 2003. Survitec is providing Wightlink 4 x 12.5m SurvitecZodiac SuperSlides, each of which are associated with 2 x SurvitecZodiac Open Reversible liferafts, in addition to personal lifesaving appliances such as Premier Compact Lifejackets.

Survitec’s MES Superslide provides an easily accessible and fully operational system that covers the ship’s full capacity. Survitec’s Superslide is rolled around the container of the liferaft, and features patented Venturi technology - reducing the amount of gas required to inflate the liferaft. This reduction results in a more compact and lightweight evacuation system to provide a subsequent array of eco-friendly benefits - including a reduction in fuel usage and an increase in available deck space on board.  

Per the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations, the Victoria of Wight successfully deployed one of the four MES’s on the 2^nd of June. The deployment was managed by Survitec, the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Keith Greenfield, Chief Executive at Wightlink, said: “Enabling passengers to get to their destination safely is our greatest priority, and Survitec’s safety solutions equipment ensures our vessel is kitted out to the very best standard to optimise performance and survivability. This is a very exciting time for everyone at Wightlink as the Victoria of Wight performs her sea trials, and we look forward to giving everyone the chance to experience the best in cross Solent ferry travel.”

Mark Hart, Sales Director at Survitec, said: “Survitec and Wightlink maintain a fantastic relationship, and we are proud to support our local community with a multitude of survival and safety solutions.”

Seawork International

This contract is in lead up to Seawork International, a commercial marine and workboat exhibition and conference, set to take place from the 3-5^th of July, in Southampton, UK. Join Survitec at stand PO51, to find out how Survitec’s safety and survival solutions can keep your company’s operations safe and compliant.

Above: Successful training deployment of the SurvitecZodiac Marine Evacutaion Systems (MES) during the Victoria of Wight’s sea trials