Repairs set to cause Isle of Man ferry disruption in March

The Ben-my-Chree will enter dry dock from 23 to 31 March

Repairs to the Isle of Man's main passenger ferry will see overnight sailings from Lancashire temporarily scrapped next month.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's Ben-my-Chree will enter dry dock from 23 to 31 March at Cammell Laird.

The firm said the work had been brought forward to ensure a "resilient service" ahead of the arrival of a new ferry.

The Manannan will operate daytime passenger services between Douglas and Heysham during the period.

The MV Arrow will operate evening freight services and passengers affected by the disruption would be contacted in the coming days, a Steam Packet spokesman said.

'Pressures on schedules'

The Ben-my-Chree had been due to undergo annual maintenance after the Isle of Man TT races in June.

A spokesman for the publicly-owned ferry firm said the decision was taken to make the repairs earlier to "alleviate any pressure on schedules around the arrival of Manxman".

Investigations are continuing into a gearbox fault found during testing of the new £78m ferry, which is set to become the island's main passenger ferry in future.

The Mannanan's scheduled daily sailings to Liverpool will begin following the repairs to the Ben-my-Chree on 31 March.