Fogged Out Again

Fog has struck yet again this year, grounding the helicopter and SkyBus service from the mainland. This has resulted in the Scillonian doing it’s infrequent night sailings from Penzance.

It arrived in St Mary’s harbour carrying both helicopter and SkyBus passengers at 10:45 pm.

RMV Scillonian III used to do two-day sailings, leaving one day, returning the next - staying in St Mary’s quay overnight, in early and late seasons until just over a decade ago. Since then it has only been seen at night when fog has grounded aircraft.

However, the increasing safety precaution of recent years have meant that aircraft cannot fly in poor conditions, hence more boat trips.

Co-operation between the Steamship Company, which runs both the Scillonian and SkyBus, and the British Internation helicopters, has meant that fog delays for air passengers is quickly sorted out with a transfer on to operating services.