Red Funnel receives COVID-19 Statement of Compliance from DNV GL
Thu, Jul 16 2020
Red Funnel is proud to announce that it is the world’s first domestic ferry operator to receive the DNV GL COVID-19 Statement of Compliance. The assessment certifies that Red Funnel has established reasonable measures to safeguard passengers, employees and crew from the COVID-19 infection.
Red Funnel has remained in operation throughout the pandemic to provide a lifeline ferry service to and from the Isle of Wight, continuously ensuring that its travel guidance consistently reflects the most current UK Government recommendations and taking all steps to minimise the spread of the infection.
In order to gain the accreditation, a comprehensive third-party verification of the company, the terminals, and the vessels, was performed remotely by DNV GL, Maritime Advisory experts based in Hamburg, Germany.
The DNV GL COVID-19 Statement of Compliance with Interferry Guidelines was developed to help ferry operators reassure stakeholders and customers that they have adopted concrete COVID-19 measures as they start to resume their passenger ferry services.
Fran Collins, CEO of Red Funnel, said: “We are very pleased to be the first domestic ferry operator in the world to have obtained the DNV GL COVID-19 Statement of Compliance with Interferry Guidelines. This achievement recognises the daily efforts of our teams, both ashore and afloat, in going above and beyond to ensure the Government’s health guidelines are met and adhered to. The health and safety of our passengers has always been our key priority and we have been continuously adopting our operations to ensure safe travel for our customers.”
Torgeir Sterri, West Europe Regional Manager, DNV GL – Maritime, commented: “The COVID-19 outbreak has had a major impact on passenger vessels across Europe. As lockdown measures begin to relax in the UK, as well as in the rest of the region, ferry operators need to demonstrate that the right measures are in place to keep passengers and crew safe. We are delighted to issue our COVID-19 Statement of Compliance with Interferry Guidelines to Red Funnel in order to support their operations and enhance the trust of their customers, employees and other stakeholders.”
Sara O’Mahoney, Risk, Safety and Compliance Administration at Red Funnel, added: “The remote survey was new to us, but it was highly successful. DNV GL’s expertise, attention to detail, and speed of delivery was very impressive and demonstrates its commitment to ensuring high standards of operation.”
Ends
For further information regarding Red Funnel, please contact:
Enya Lumley or Mel Piercy at McKenna Townsend
T: 01425 472330
E: [email protected]
Editor’s note
About Red Funnel
Red Funnel is the original Isle of Wight ferry company with roots tracing back to 1820. Based in the UK port of Southampton, Red Funnel carries 2.3m passengers and over 800,000 vehicles on its ferry route between the UK port of Southampton and East Cowes and 1.1m passengers between Southampton and West Cowes on its Red Jet Hi-Speed service. In addition to ferry travel, Red Funnel is the only cross-Solent operator to offer ferry inclusive bonded holiday accommodation, attraction tickets, festival and event tickets and activity packages. Sub-brands include ‘Red Jet’ (the Hi-Speed passenger only ferry service serving West Cowes) and two food & beverage brands, ‘Steam Coffee Company’ and ‘ReFuel’. The Company is a founder member of Visit Isle of Wight Ltd, the Island’s not for profit destination management organisation and Red Funnel sponsors or supports most of the Island’s premier events including the IW Festival, Cowes Week, Rhythm Tree, The Great Wonderfest, Wight Proms, Cowes Classics, and Walk the Wight as well as a range of community and niche interest events. Red Funnel’s Charity of the Year, 2020 is Isle of Wight Independent Lifeboats.
For more information visit: www.redfunnel.co.uk
About DNV GL – Maritime
DNV GL is the world’s leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry. We enhance safety, quality, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the global shipping industry – across all vessel types and offshore structures. We invest heavily in research and development to find solutions, together with the industry, that address strategic, operational or regulatory challenges.