Ferries cancelled or changed due to spring tides

Four sailings over the weekend have been scrapped

Extensive changes have been made to this week's ferry schedule, between the Isle of Man and Heysham, due to spring tides affecting berth availability, the Steam Packet Company has confirmed.

The ferry operator has announced a raft of changes to its schedule from Tuesday evening until Sunday afternoon including four cancellations over the weekend.

It means the 19:15 GMT Manxman sailing to Heysham on Friday and Saturday along with the 01:45 return on Saturday and Sunday have been called off.

The company said it had hoped that conditions within Heysham port would "improve sufficiently to allow sailings to go ahead as planned".

While the firm said it "deeply regrets" having to make the alterations, it stressed that in order to stay within the company's safety criteria, the move was "necessary", according to a statement from the operator.

Changes

Other changes to the schedule will see Tuesday evening's 19:15 GMT crossing to Heysham depart at 20:30, with her return on Wednesday pushed back to 03:00.

Wednesday's 08:00 GMT crossing from Douglas will leave at 08:45, with her return now scheduled for 14:30.

The 20:00 GMT crossing on Wednesday will now leave at 19:15 with no changes made to the return crossing.

Friday's 08:00 GMT departure for Heysham has been pushed back to 11:00, with the scheduled 13:45 return now pushed back to 17:30 GMT.

Saturday's crossing to Heysham has been delayed from 08:00 GMT to 12:00 with the return crossing set to depart at 18:30.

Meanwhile Sunday's crossing to Heysham will leave an hour early at 07:00 GMT and the return will leave the Lancashire port at 13:15.

The firm's reservations team are in the process of notifying customers and can help with any changes to passenger bookings, the company said.