Visitors expected to return to mainland on Sunday as Scillonian III returns to service after four days

Hundreds of visitors who were stranded on the Isles of Scilly for days after the only passenger ferry broke down were expecting to finally return to the mainland on Sunday.

Around 800 people have been waiting to return from the archipelago – located about 27 miles south-west of Land’s End in Cornwall – after the only ferry broke down on Wednesday morning.

Two engines on the Scillonian III – the only regular service to the islands by sea – started to fail, and the boat was escorted back to Penzance by the RNLI.

The Scillonian III has a passenger capacity of 485 and usually completes a return trip once a day between Penzance and the largest of the islands, St Mary’s.

Isles of Scilly Travel, who operate the ferry and also run passenger flights to the islands, said the boat would be back in action on Sunday afternoon with its first voyage after being repaired scheduled for 3.30pm.

Georgina Gracey, who was on the boat when it broke down, said passengers were given limited information by the company when the engines failed.

She added: “(It) bobbed up and down three miles off Land’s End for about an hour before the engineers managed to fix one engine and we turned back to Penzance.

“The main priority was sorting out accommodation for people who were stranded, but there was very little information given about onwards travel.”

Some passengers, including Gracey, were flown out to the island the next day. However, others who were already on the island remained stranded.

There have been growing frustrations towards the company after claims from some holidaymakers that they were not given adequate information.

Gracey, 20, who holidays on the islands with her family every year, said the company were far more responsive if contacted via Twitter than via phone or email.

She added: “At first it was so frustrating having virtually no information, but once we spoke to someone on Wednesday night he was very helpful and sorted out our travel very quickly.

“I think this is a super-unprecedented situation for the islands so I think they’ve tried their best. However, I think the general communication could have been so much better, especially given that people have plans and school to get back to and have been left in limbo.”

Sailings were cancelled for Thursday and then for Friday as the company said it hoped to have the boat back on the route on Saturday morning. But Saturday’s crossings were also cancelled after a replacement part was found to be faulty.

Isles of Scilly Travel’s managing director, Stuart Reid, told BBC Radio Cornwall: “The engineers have been again working through the night tirelessly, doing final checks, and the ship will sail today at 3.30. It’s already scheduled but going at a later time.

“Some of the passengers have been booked but most will be people who have been stranded. The latest numbers are that there are 800 people due to come off the islands today.

“The engineers have been absolutely brilliant. They’ve got music playing and are working tirelessly. All our workers have been absolutely fantastic and I want to thank them and the people of the islands and want to apologise to all of our passengers who have been affected.”