Ben-my-Chree will sail to Heysham this morning after the Steam Packet’s flagship Manxman was damaged overnight in an incident in Heysham.
She has remained in the Lancashire port after the incident overnight.
The delayed sailing will leave Douglas at 10:30am rather than the usual 8:45am, with passengers asked to check in by 9:45am.
The Ben was already in service operating freight sailings during the busy Manx Grand Prix period and was berthed at the Lancashire port.
She left Heysham at around 5:15am and is expected in to Douglas at 9am.
Incident
After issues docking at Heysham, the company confirmed just after 3am that Manxman had been involved in an incident in Lancashire and there were no injuries.
Passengers told Manx.News that that the ship had struggled in the high winds and we have unconfirmed reports she went bow first into a piece of harbour infrastructure.
At 5:45am, the company said: “The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company can confirm that Manxman sustained damage entering Heysham Port overnight.
“Ben-my-Chree has been utilized to carry passengers due to sail on Manxman’s 02:15 scheduled departure. Contingency plans are being activated to minimize disruptions during the busy Manx Grand Prix and Bank Holiday period.
“As previously confirmed, for the time being Manxman will remain in Heysham.”
Posts on social media appeared to show damage to the bow of the vessel.
Staff Praised
One passenger who contacted Manx.News told us that they personally had not seen any damage, but praised the staff onboard the Ben.
They said: “We couldn’t see any damage to the boat as they had managed to dock and the loading door was open the weather was quite windy it seemed a bit manic with having to transfer foot passengers onto the Ben via a minibus.
“From my perspective it seemed like some staff didn’t know what was going on regarding directing traffic onto the boat the staff on the boat have been amazing and very accommodating they are doing their best to make sure everyone is comfortable while they try and adjust to the sudden change in plan as their were a few passengers who had booked cabins but there were none available as they hadn’t been made up but the lady who was at the customer service desk assured people that they would try their best to get them all a cabin which they have managed to do just as we left port.”
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