Isle of Man ferry sailings axed due to strong winds and silting

The Manxman remains subject to temporary wind speed restrictions for entering port

Ferry sailings between the Isle of Man and Lancashire are facing disruption due to a freight backlog, strong winds and silting at Heysham Port.

Thursday's daytime crossings of the Manxman from Douglas have been scrapped due to strong winds forecast for later.

As a result, a large volume of freight trailers had to be loaded onto the boat on Wednesday, delaying its departure.

The knock-on effect was a delay to the vessel docking in Heysham due to a rise in silting brought by recent storms.

That was compounded by further delays in off-loading passengers and freight due to dockers being committed to deal with another scheduled departure from the port, which took precedence over the late arriving Manxman, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said.

The planned overnight return of the vessel, which had been due to depart Heysham at 02:45 GMT, set sail shortly before 07:30 and was expected to arrive back in Douglas at 11:15.

All of Friday's scheduled sailings have been brought forward by between 30 and 45 minutes as a result of the silting issues.

Thursday's cancellations were caused by temporary wind restrictions on the Steam Packet's newest ferry when entering port.

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