An additional Ben-my-Chree sailing was forced to ‘hold off’ on its way to Heysham last night due to high wind speeds.

The sailing was to carry extra freight and dangerous goods, allowing Manxman to prioritize carrying as many passengers as possible.

The Ben-my-Chree was due to depart Heysham at 1:15am, with the Manxman departing Douglas at 9pm and returning at 3:30am.

However, due to high wind speeds at Heysham’s number three berth, the Ben-my-Chree was forced to ‘hold off’ and let the Manxman pass through.

A spokesperson from the Steam Packet said: ‘The wind speeds were higher than the risk assessment for the Ben-my-Chree, so the master aborted the approach to Heysham and held off west of the Lune to allow wind speeds to moderate.

‘The Manxman then used best speed to arrive at Heysham ahead of the Ben-my-Chree in order to discharge, load passengers and priority freight and depart, maximising usage of the available berth slots and minimising disruption to schedules.

‘Ben-my-Chree then proceeded to berth and load dangerous goods and remaining freight as previously advised, then arriving in Douglas after 8:45am today (Thursday, September 12) in order to allow the Manxman to complete loading operations on number five berth (the King Edward VIII pier).’

This morning’s Manxman sailing to Heysham departed as scheduled at 8:49am.

Following a week of disruptions to Steam Packet sailings due to high wind speeds, there are currently no sailings at risk of disruption or cancellation until Saturday morning.