Flagship ferry repair project to cost about £5m

A project to repair the Isle of Man's flagship ferry is expected to cost about £5m, the operator has said.

Damage to the Manxman was discovered when the vessel entered drydock for scheduled maintenance on 13 July, leaving it out of action until late November.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said the shaft bearings and associated shaft liners, which protect the vessel's main propulsion shafts, had now been repaired by a specialist engineering firm in Denmark.

The Steam Packet said the cost of the work would be paid for directly from the firm's reserves without additional funding from the government.

The repaired shafts and their components are now set to be shipped back to the UK and would be reassembled in the vessel at Cammell Laird shipyard, in Birkenhead.

The overall cost includes both the extended drydock period, as well as the repairs themselves.

The company is owned by the Manx government and has the Treasury as its only shareholder, but is run at arm's length.

Steam Packet managing director Brian Thomson said the firm was "extremely conscious at all times of our position as both a publicly-owned entity and a vital link in the Isle of Man's infrastructure".

The firm therefore had "contingency funds to cover unforeseen eventualities such as this", he said.

The firm had commissioned an independent report into the causes of the wear to the components and would be "seeking to recover costs through insurance and warranty, where appropriate," he added.

Back-up passenger ferry the Ben-my-Chree has been carrying out daily services between Douglas and Heysham, while freight vessel MV Arrow has been brought back in to help with cargo.

The firm previously confirmed changes to its Larne and Heysham sailing schedules in November after the fastcraft vessel Manannan is taken out of service for the winter.

That will see Wednesday return sailings to the port in Northern Ireland cancelled on 11, 18 and 25 November with Friday and Monday crossings instead moved to overnight services on Thursday and Sunday.

As a result, the planned Thursday and Sunday overnight Ben-my-Chree sailings to Heysham have been cancelled.

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