same year, construction work began on renovating and enlarging the terminal at East Cowes, the first phase of which was completed in August 2018. In July 2022, Unite members at Red Funnel went on strike over pay, causing the company to have to run a reduced timetable. According to Red Funnel, this was the first strike at the firm since 1966. The strikes were suspended in August 2022 after the company proposed a new pay agreement. The House Flag Red Funnel's house flag was adopted in 1861. The design was inspired by the names of the company's early paddle-steamers, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby and Pearl. A simple rhyme was the guide to flying it correctly: Current fleet Vehicle ferries The first three vessels were built by Ferguson Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow, and entered service between 1994 and 1996. Between 2003 and 2005 the ferries were refitted and extended both in length and height by Remontowa S.A. in Gdańsk, Poland. This was following a corporate decision driven by Tom Docherty to maximise summer operating capacity taking the previous capacity from around 100 CEUs to 213 CEU. During 2014 Red Falcon underwent a £2.2 million refurbishment, which saw the interior and facilities replaced with a bright and new modern look. Due to success and increase of passengers on their services during 2014, it was confirmed that Red Osprey would also receive a £2.2 million refurbishment. Like her sister ship, the Red Osprey was refitted and relaunched almost exactly a year later. After a delay of three years, the Red Eagle was refitted at the end of 2017. In February 2018, Red Funnel announced plans to introduce a new freight only ferry into the fleet, to coincide with the refurbishment of their facilities on both sides of the Solent. It will be built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, and is designed to have similar dimensions to Red Funnel's Raptor class fleet, allowing it to load and unload with the same linkspan used by the other ferries. Construction of the new ferry began on 31 May 2018 with a formal Keel laying ceremony. During this event, the ship's name was announced to be Red Kestrel, placing its name in line with those of the rest of Red Funnel's RO-RO ferry fleet. She entered service in May 2019. Passenger ferries Red Jet 4 was built new for Red Funnel by North West Bay Ships