Cruise ships sail by island as passengers stay aboard

Covid-19 has seen all liner visits to the island this year cancelled, but for those who enjoy the sight of massive ships off the coast who were lucky enough to be in the right place there was a chance to recapture some of that magic.

First of the pair was the newly-launched Fred Olsen ship Bolette on its maiden voyage, which sailed along the south coast on Wednesday morning.

The ship had left Dover on Monday and visited the Isles of Scilly before paying a visit to Channel Island waters and returning to Dover.

On Friday morning the Viking lines ship Viking Star sailed up the east coast on its way to Portsmouth.

The absence of visitors coming ashore from visiting liners has impacted on a number of local businesses, including the Petit Train which has had to rely on locals to fill its seats since the start of the pandemic.

Owner operator Andy Furniss said business was ‘ticking along’.

‘Since the start of July there’s been a huge increase in passenger numbers but we’re not breaking any records,’ he said.

Many cruise ship visitors took the opportunity to see the Town on the train during their brief visit to the island but in their absence Mr Furniss said islanders and their children had been having rides.

This was helped by his decision to offer free travel for children, which he also did last year. He also put on special events last year, including evening trips, but said that these have not been so well supported this time.

‘The feeling I have is that local people want to do something else and get off the island and go on holiday,’ he said.

Usually the train would run until the end of September, but he did not think he would be operating daily all that time.

He was looking forward to welcoming passengers from the first cruise liner to arrive next year.

‘I’ll probably be in floods of tears. It’s been so hard. But it’s taught me a lot about how to run a business with no money.’