New Manxman ferry's maiden voyage confirmed for next week

The Isle of Man's new flagship ferry will make its maiden voyage next week, the ferry operator has confirmed.

The Manxman is due to make its first passenger sailing from the island to Lancashire on 17 August.

While the £76m vessel arrived on the island on 2 July, it has not been in service while berthing trials and pre-passenger service checks took place.

The new ferry will depart Douglas at 08:45, setting of on its return journey from Heysham at 14:15 BST.

The Ben-my-Chree, which the Manxman is set to replace, will continue to run the overnight sailings for a month.

People already booked on that journey will be joined by 50 people picked out of a draw by the Steam Packet.

More than 6,000 people entered the draw to win a place on the first sailing.

With a capacity of 950 passengers, the Manxman is the largest vessel in the company's history.

Spokesman for the government-owned ferry operator said the new boat would "change over from day to night sailings" on 17 September.

The Ben-my-Chree will keep operating until the new ship is due to take over full time in October.

The staggered approach would "allow Manxman time to bed-in before operating night time sailings to Heysham", the spokesman said.

While there were also plans for the vessel to sail to Liverpool at weekends in the winter months, the start of those trips would depend on when the new terminal is completed and would not happen before the end of January, he added.

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