Red Funnel ferry routes
Every route operated by Red Funnel at a glance, with current crossing times, timetables and ticket prices.
Red Funnel traces its origins to 1820, when George Ward and William Fitzhugh founded the Isle of Wight Royal Mail Steam Packet Company to run the first steamship service from Cowes to Southampton. The Red Funnel Steamers trading name was introduced in 1935, when all ships carried black-topped red funnels.
Red Funnel connects Southampton with the Isle of Wight. The Raptor-class car ferries run between Southampton and East Cowes, while the Red Jet fast catamarans run between Southampton and West Cowes. Between 1840 and the 1960s, Red Funnel operated 40 different classic passenger ferries, many of them paddle steamers.
The fleet comprises three Raptor-class RoPax ferries: MV Red Falcon and MV Red Osprey (both entered service in 1994), and MV Red Eagle, which was lengthened with a new midsection in 2004 and, with capacity for 220 cars, went into the record books as the largest ferry to the Isle of Wight. The Red Kestrel has run as a freight-only ferry since May 2019. The Red Jet 6 was built in 2016 and the Red Jet 7 in 2018 at the Wight Shipyard in East Cowes.
In 1931 Red Funnel introduced the first diesel ferry with the MV Medina, followed by the first purpose-built car ferry in 1959. High-speed services began in 1969 with Italian Shearwater hydrofoils. In July 2024 a new fully electric Artemis eFoiler hydrofoil for 150 passengers was announced, due to enter service in late 2025. Cafés and lounges are available on board.
Route map
Every route operated by Red Funnel at a glance