Torpoint Ferry

[whole diary]

[Lee]

The Torpoint ferry service has been reduced from a 10-minute to a 15-minute service while essential maintenance work is carried out over the next month (link below.)
http://thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133464&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133158&contentPK=20536866&folderPk=78031&pNodeId=133174

The Torpoint ferry Tamar II was taken out of service from yesterday for a refit which will include an application of protective coatings and maintenance work on drive systems.

The reduction to the service will apply throughout the working day and at weekends from 6.30am until 9.30pm, when the normal single-ferry service will operate overnight.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Bosses at the Torpoint Ferry have announced a two-day strike next week which will stop services altogether.

The Ferry will be closed on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 July as part of industrial action over an on-going dispute over pay. In a short statement, David List, general manager of the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee, said only emergency vehicles would be allowed onto the ferry.

See http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/day-strike-shut-Torpoint-Ferry/article-215845-detail/article.html

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Jordan Cobb: Torpoint ferry jump search called off


Jordan's family were kept fully informed during the search

The search for a teenage boy who jumped from a ferry into a river on New Year's Eve has been called off.

Jordan Cobb, 16, from Plymouth, Devon, jumped from the Torpoint ferry into the River Tamar at 21:15 GMT on Monday.

Devon and Cornwall Police said Jordan was believed to be with a group of friends when he jumped.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said despite an extensive air, land and sea search Jordan had not been found.

Nigel Bunker, an MCA station officer, said there had been no sightings of Jordan since he was captured on the ferry's CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) going into the water.

The ferry was approaching Torpoint at the time of the incident, but the search was extended to include the Plymouth side of the river.

Mr Bunker said there had been a "massive effort" to find Jordan, but when the best chance at low tide failed, all the teams involved in the search were stood down.

Sgt Mike Hope, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said Jordan's family had been kept fully informed throughout the search. "They are obviously very distraught at the moment and are really just waiting for news - it's a very distressing time for them," he told BBC News.

Coastguard rescue teams, a helicopter, police and Ministry of Defence launches, Dartmoor Rescue Group and Plymouth's all-weather and inshore lifeboats were involved in the search.

The Torpoint Ferry, which is pulled across the River Tamar on chains, is one of the main ways to travel between Devon and Cornwall.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update on this sad story, from the Plymouth Herald:

Family's agony as search for Jordan Cobb is scaled down

The brother of missing teenager Jordan Cobb said his family would have to learn to cope with the police announcement that there was "little hope" he was still alive.

Lee Cobb, Jordan's older brother, was responding to the news that police were scaling down their efforts to find the 16-year-old, following 11 days of extensive searching.

Police have worked alongside the RNLI, the coastguard, and the MoD police scouring Plymouth's waters since the 16-year-old dived from the Torpoint Ferry into the River Tamar on New Year's Eve.

In addition, hundreds of members of the public ^ including friends of the Stoke Damerel Community College student ^ also scoured the shoreline on both sides of the River Tamar in an effort to find clues to the whereabouts of the teenager. On Thursday the multi-agency search, which included police divers, took advantage of the low tide to make further searches, but last night police announced it was unlikely the youngster was still alive.

A police spokesman said: "Based on the time since he went missing, the last known sighting of him in the River Tamar on New Year's Eve and no information since, there is now little hope of finding Jordan alive."

Police said the coastguard and MoD launches would continue to search for Jordan during their daily patrols along the Tamar.

Jordan's brother, Lee Cobb, told The Herald: "It has been a long time now. We always said we have got to have hope, but I think for us it was more to find him so we could lay him to rest. We have to come to terms with it. From the minute we were told what had happened we were aware how serious it was. We just want some closure so we can start to mourn. The world moves on, we have to learn how to cope with it."

Det Insp Nick West, said the combined operation to find Jordan was "one of the biggest joint agency search operations of Plymouth's waters". He said: "The search has included specialist search and dive officers, uniformed officers, MoD police launches, the coastguard and a helicopter team from RNAS Culdrose. In addition, a large number of volunteers from the RNLI have given their own time to carry out extensive daily searches. Add to that the large number of members of the public who have taken it upon themselves to search for Jordan, then this is possibly the biggest such search carried out for a missing person in the waters in and around Plymouth. Teams have searched far up the River Tamar and River Lynher and out into Plymouth Sound, across to Cawsand and even searches along Whitsand Bay. If any further information comes to light we will act upon it."

[Chris from Nailsea]

A further update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Body found in River Tamar during missing Jordan Cobb search

Police searching for a missing teenager who jumped from a ferry on New Year's Eve have recovered a body.

The body was pulled from the River Tamar close to the Torpoint Ferry at about 17:00 GMT on Wednesday.

A land and river search has been under way for 16-year-old Jordan Cobb from Plymouth after he jumped from the ferry.

Police said his next of kin had been informed of the find but formal identification was yet to take place.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Police received a report of a body in the Tamar River on the Torpoint side of ferry. A Ministry of Defence Police launch, together with coastguards, searched the river and at around 5.15 GMT a body was recovered."

They added: "The family of Jordan Cobb, who went missing on New Year's Eve, have been kept fully informed of events."

Jordan was seen on CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) jumping from the ferry at about 21:15 on New Year's Eve but he did not re-surface. The year 11 student at Stoke Damerel Community College had been with a group of friends as the ferry was approaching Torpoint when he jumped.

Police said one line of inquiry was that the incident had been a "prank gone wrong" after they said he might have leapt over for a ^100 bet.

Searches involving the police, coastguard and the MoD have been carried out since his disappearance, focusing on the river, the river bed and the shore.

Torpoint ferries are pulled across the River Tamar on chains and are an important travel link between Plymouth, Devon and Torpoint in Cornwall.