of Wight to the Woolston yard and back each day. These two craft were disposed of in June 1982 and the charter subsequently operated by the augmented hydrofoil fleet. Hydrofoils The first hydrofoils to operate on the Southampton to Cowes route, and the first in commercial service in the United Kingdom, were the Italian designed Shearwater and Shearwater 2. These were introduced by Red Funnel in 1969, and each seated 54 passengers. They were replaced in 1973 by two 67 seat RH70 hydrofoils, built by Cantière Navale Rodriguez, named Shearwater 3 and Shearwater 4. The latter was delivered some 5 months after the former and in the interim a PT20 craft, Fleccia di Reggio, was chartered to stand in. In 1982 Shearwater 5 and Shearwater 6 were added to the fleet. In 1991, with the introduction of the first Red Jet catamarans, the hydrofoils were demoted to back-up duties until they were finally withdrawn in 1998. Red Jets Tugs and tug tenders Some tugs also had passenger accommodation to enable them to serve as tenders to liners not actually berthing in Southampton and to augment the excursion fleet on occasion. Medina crossing Incidents On 9 March 1997 Red Falcon, inbound from Cowes, collided in Southampton Water with the outbound trailing suction hopper dredger Volvox Hansa in fog. Both ships' masters were held to blame. On 10 March 2006 the car ferry Red Falcon, collided with the linkspan at the Southampton Town Quay terminal. Eight passengers and one crew member were injured and significant damage was caused to the Southampton end of the Red Falcon and to the linkspan. The collision caused a hole above the waterline and buckling of the car deck doors. Red Eagle collided with Humber Energy in the Thorne Channel, near Southampton Water, on the evening of 21 December 2006. Coastguards said nobody was injured and neither vessel was badly damaged. Richard Pellew, of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: "Having examined the minor damage sustained to the Red Eagle we are advising Red Funnel on the repair work the ferry needs before it can resume normal service." On 5 November 2016 a man on a personal water craft collided with Red Jet 4. No one was injured and no damage was caused. Red Eagle was involved in a collision in thick fog on 27 September 2018. It was reported that the ferry had ploughed through the