Ferry refit finished early in bid to end delays
BBCFerry bosses are investigating an issue which caused long delays with just one of three vessels operating on a busy route.
Tamar Crossings said a "complete failure" of the bearing which supported the chain on Torpoint Ferry's Lynher II led to it being taken out of service on 19 April.
It meant the crossing - which has three vessels going between Torpoint and Plymouth - was down to a single ferry as its Tamar II boat was undergoing an upgrade.
Delays of up to 90 minutes were reported but officials said the work on Tamar II was completed by Wednesday evening, a week ahead of schedule, restoring the service to two vessels.
Kellyann Bastos, ferry manager for Tamar Crossings, said the team was able to speed up the upgrade because the work was being done on site.
Bastos added the delay times "were not great" for anyone using the service which carries about three million vehicles annually, making it the world's busiest chain ferry service.
"As soon as things happen, we do try and get our own technical team or operations teams to work with us to get it up and running as soon as possible," she said.
"Unfortunately, some things are specialist as we are a floating bridge.
"Sometimes we do need to bring technical people in from across the UK."
Tamar Crossings said Lynher II would return to regular service once a replacement part was fitted.
