Silting and low tides lead to Isle of Man ferry disruption

Daytime sailings of the Ben-my-Chree have been cancelled

Ferry sailings between the Isle of Man and Lancashire have been disrupted due to a combination of an extreme low tide and the building up of silt deposits, the ferry operator has said.

The 08:45 BST crossing of the Ben-my-Chree to Heysham and its afternoon return have both been cancelled.

The vessel arrived back in Douglas Harbour shortly after 10:00, about four hours later than originally scheduled.

The Department of Infrastructure said the issue was "being looked into".

Recent water depth surveys had shown "nothing more than the usual accumulation of material which is generated by the manoeuvring of the vessel itself", a spokesman said.

He said investigations would be carried out to "ascertain if there has been an additional factor such as debris which has contributed to the incident".

No similar problems had been reported by the ferry company recently during equivalent low tides, he added.

A spokesman for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said the 19:45 sailing to Heysham and its overnight return would both be delayed by more than two hours as a result of the conditions.

The fast craft Manannan would now operate two daytime sailings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in place of the scheduled Ben-my-Chree journeys, he added.