Staff show the Wight-stuff

Wightlink staff slide to safety with VT Flagship at HMS Excellent

Eleven brave delegates from Wightlink stand atop the vertical escape chute at HMS Excellent, Portsmouth, ready to take the drop. One by one they step over the edge and disappear. This is the Marin-ark Evacuation System (MES), known at HMS Excellent as the Maritime Escape Chute. This system is used to train students on Sea Safety courses which are jointly run by the Royal Navy and VT Flagship.

Wightlink and VT Flagship have been working together for five years resulting in more than 300 Wightlink staff attending a least one Sea Safety course at HMS Excellent. On this occasion, the lucky eleven were put through their paces by Chief Petty Officer Keith Spiller. Speaking about the course, Wightlink Captain Mike Bechley explains: “It is a legal requirement of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency that all staff who go to sea do this every three years. I personally have done this 22 times, but each member of staff has to go through twice during each visit; the first time for the experience and the second to ensure they actually know what they are doing.”

Captain Bechley has been personally involved with training and establishing the relationship with VT Flagship. Commenting further about the partnership with the Royal Navy and VT Flagship, Captain Bechley says: “This training facility is exactly the same height as our ships. There are other options for us, but the training we receive here is tailored to our requirements.  Additionally the training facilities are better maintained and the organisation is excellent.  Members of staff are expected to be able to reassure passengers in the event of any emergency and this experience gives them that confidence.”

Judging by eleven smiling faces, Wightlink passengers are sure to find themselves in the company of confident and fully trained staff in any emergency. Carrying over 5 million passengers to and from the Isle of Wight each year and crossing the Solent 68,000 times, Wightlink are one of the UK’s largest domestic ferry operators.