The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company regrets to announce that all Manannan sailings for tomorrow – Wednesday April 8th – have had to be cancelled.
However, the Company has secured a charter from P & O Ferries to cover tomorrow’s Manannan Belfast service.
All passengers booked on Manannan’s 15:00 sailing to Liverpool will be automatically transferred to Ben-my-Chree’s 19:45 sailing to Heysham and foot passengers will receive a coach transfer to Liverpool on arrival.
All passengers booked on the 19:15 sailing from Liverpool will be automatically transferred to the 02:15 sailing from Heysham on Thursday morning (April 9th) and a coach transfer for foot passengers will depart at 21:00.
Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: ‘We have been trying for several days to provide a direct alternative for our Belfast passengers, who are not able to simply transfer to a Ben-my-Chree sailing.
‘We have now been able to secure a round trip charter from P & O Ferries, using its fast craft P & O Express. However, because of P&O’s own operational constraints, these sailings will arrive at and leave from Larne, not Belfast.’
Passengers should also note that the first sailing of the day is to Douglas, not from Douglas. The timings will be:
Larne – Douglas 07:00
Douglas – Larne 11:00
Passengers booked on Manannan’s Belfast service will be automatically transferred to the alternative sailings shown above.
A coach for foot passengers will depart Belfast Terminal to Larne at 05:30. A return coach transfer from Larne to Belfast will depart after the vessel arrives at approximately 14:00.
Because of P & O Express’s own schedule it is not possible to provide an additional charter service to our Liverpool passengers.
Mr Woodward said: ‘Repairs to Manannan are now progressing well. Specialist materials have been located and are being delivered to Heysham this evening. Additional specialist coded aluminum welders and welding equipment are also beeing sourced to carry out the work to Classification Society and Flag Administration standards.
‘Repair teams worked last night to remove the damaged equipment using specialist divers and a shore side crane. To minimise the repair time, these have been transported to our workshops where preparation work is underway. In addition, the freighter MV Arrow is now in service, which is allowing Ben-my-Chree to concentrate on passenger and vehicle traffic via Heysham.
‘We again offer our sincere apologies to passengers for the continued disruption. We are striving to do all that we can to minimise the repair time of Manannan and restore normal operations as soon as possible.’
Announcements regarding any necessary further changes to schedules will be made tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
