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Isle of Man Steam Packet Co

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childwallblues

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Fast Craft Mannaman which is currently in the Wet Basin at Cammell Lairds, Birkenhead will leave on Tuesday at 1100 hours. She will cross over the river to the new Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool to undertake berthing trials. Mannaman is due to start using the terminal when thr ferry service to Douglas resumes at the end of the month.
 
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Tetchytyke

Tetchytyke

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It won’t be using the new terminal for a while yet. The government have told us ‘spring 2024’ but haven’t been more committal than that. And given the extended delays due to the government’s incompetence, I’d not expect to see it in use until well after TT.
 
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randyrippley

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They need to get it operational ASAP..........
Manxman has had a torrid time recently with lost sailings due to tech issues - AFAIK it lost four days last week, with several in previous weeks. Good job they haven't got rid of the Ben yet

Is the old Pier Head landing stage still available or has that gone?
 
Polarbear

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The Pier Head landing stage does appear to be available still. From what I can observe, the new terminal at Liverpool seems to be largely complete, but no obvious sign of any imminent change to the berth location.
 
Tetchytyke

Tetchytyke

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The old linkspan at Pier Head is still there and can still be used until the new terminal is ready to open.

Manxman didn’t lose four days last week, but it has had intermittent technical problems. Or at least the Steam Packet say they are technical problems. There’s a lot of cynicism here given the industrial relations issues and given the Manxman’s size and issues with wind at Heysham. It’s a shame, it’s really is a fabulous ferry.

The Ben apparently isn’t operational. Well it is, but it is limited to 7 knots. Or so the rumour mill claims.
 
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randyrippley

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Tetchytyke said:
The old linkspan at Pier Head is still there and can still be used until the new terminal is ready to open.

Manxman didn’t lose four days last week, but it has had intermittent technical problems. Or at least the Steam Packet say they are technical problems. There’s a lot of cynicism here given the industrial relations issues and given the Manxman’s size and issues with wind at Heysham. It’s a shame, it’s really is a fabulous ferry.

The Ben apparently isn’t operational. Well it is, but it is limited to 7 knots. Or so the rumour mill claims.
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I can see Arrow being lined up to take the bikes during the TT...........

You'd have thought they would have remembered the Heysham wind problems after all the scrapes bangs and crashes with Mona's Isle (ex Free Enterprise III). I know it's going back a few years, but surely someone must still be around from then who could have flagged the problem? That came to a head with it being beached on Overton sands after being forced to go backwards to avoid ramming the harbour entrance due to wind........while Manx Viking just carried on as normal

As for the "lost four days", the SteamPacket announced it was going to happen, presumably they changed their minds

Talking of Manannan, was the broken diesel ever repaired/replaced or is it still just running on three?
 
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Tetchytyke

Tetchytyke

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Arrow can only take 12 passengers, so it’s no use to the bikes. Useful to fill with trucks to let the other ferries take the bikes though.

I believe they were fixing the fourth engine whilst it was in dry dock. But I’m sure we’ll see in due course.
 
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randyrippley

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Tetchytyke said:
Arrow can only take 12 passengers, so it’s no use to the bikes. Useful to fill with trucks to let the other ferries take the bikes though.

I believe they were fixing the fourth engine whilst it was in dry dock. But I’m sure we’ll see in due course.
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They used one of the freighters once when they had problems before. Shipped the bikes from Heysham on the freighter, then bussed the passengers to Stranraer and used one of the Calmac ships to get them to Douglas. Logistical nightmare

==edit==
thinking more about that, it was after Manx Viking had gone and the only ro-ro ferries they had were Tynwald and Peveril.
One of the two sideloaders got stuffed into a harbour wall, and Liverpool didn't have a linkspan - just a floating pontoon for the sideloaders.
So the bikers had to ride from Liverpool to Heysham, put their bikes there onto Peveril, get a bus to Stranraer and then get onto Calmac's Clansman at 12knots to Douglas.........and then collect their bikes off Peveril
 
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chiltern trev

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Tetchytyke said:
The old linkspan at Pier Head is still there and can still be used until the new terminal is ready to open.

Manxman didn’t lose four days last week, but it has had intermittent technical problems. Or at least the Steam Packet say they are technical problems. There’s a lot of cynicism here given the industrial relations issues and given the Manxman’s size and issues with wind at Heysham. It’s a shame, it’s really is a fabulous ferry.

The Ben apparently isn’t operational. Well it is, but it is limited to 7 knots. Or so the rumour mill claims.
Click to expand...
Manxman did not lose 4 days last week.

There are 4 days planned maintenance for the evacuation system and the Ben My Chree is to stand in on the said dates. The 4 days are spread over several months and are not in one block.

Here is the article on 4 days. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles...eduled to be,Chree, or the fastcraft Manannan

Flagship passenger ferry Manxman will be taken out of action on four occasions for "planned servicing" of its marine evacuation system.

Work is scheduled to be carried out on the system on 26 March, 15 and 25 April, and 7 May, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has said.

The vessel will be replaced on its scheduled passenger journeys by either its predecessor, the Ben-my-Chree, or the fastcraft Manannan.

The testing of the evacuation system involves deploying chutes and detachable survival rafts for emergency situations.

The Ben-my-Chree itself is also due to have its planned annual maintenance and inspection during the months of March and April.

A spokesman for the ferry firm said its reservations team would confirm changes in travel information during the period with passengers via email or phone where appropriate.

The Manannan, which to come back into service to carry out journeys to Liverool at the end of the month, has also been given an overhaul and cabin refit during the winter period, he added.

Go to Mr Drone on YouTube. This week's video is of the Manannan testing and using the new Liverpool terminal and linkspan which looks to be successful
 
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