Isle of Wight Council Floating Bridge talks fail

A year after it was first mentioned, the Isle of Wight Council has undertaken legal mediation with those who built and designed the Floating Bridge 6 — which has been locally dubbed the 'Wight Elephant'.

The £3.2 million vessel has been plagued with problems, malfunctions and breakdowns since it was installed in 2017 and the authority has started to take steps to get some of the money it has lost back.

The council was after a 'fair and acceptable settlement' Cllr Phil Jordan, the cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, had previously said but following proceedings last week, no agreement has been reached.

• Date set after year of delays for Floating Bridge mitigation
• Butting heads over Floating Bridge mitigation

Two days were set out for the three parties to reach a settlement but the council walked away empty-handed.

It is now deciding what its next steps will be, whether to go back to mitigation or take it further into legal action.

Speaking today (Monday), Cllr Jordan said one of the reasons the mitigation had failed was because the parties were miles apart in agreeing on the costs.

While not able to say how much the council was claiming, Cllr Jordan said it was in the millions but the difference between what was being offered to the authority was also in the millions.

• Council's multimillion payout hopes for Floating Bridge

Cllr Jordan said it was frustrating but he was waiting to speak to the council's lawyers and hoped a decision would be made on what to do next in weeks, not months.

The authority had previously said it would not hesitate to instigate further legal action without delay.

A government report, released last year, was the last bit of evidence the council needed to take the mediation forward after inspectors confirmed the Cowes to East Cowes chain ferry was poorly built and poorly designed.

• What the government says about Wight Elephant chain ferry
• What council has to say on government's floating bridge review

Today, the Floating Bridge 6 has been taken out of action for a safety inspection conducted by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Every five years chain ferries are legally required to undergo the inspection which will mean the service will be out until April 22.

A foot passenger launch is being used instead.

• Read more: Floating Bridge out for inspection until April