The Manx government still doesn’t know the final total cost of the new Liverpool ferry terminal.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall said the price tag will only be known when the final account is settled which can typically take 65 weeks after project completion.

The new terminal at Prince’s Half-Tide Dock opened to passengers on June 25.

It has been a project dogged with delays and cost over-runs.

When planning consent was first granted for the facility in April 2019, the estimated cost of the development was £31.3m but that figure had increased by £6.5m by the time it received Tynwald funding approval in July that year.

Then at the end of 2021, Mr Crookall announced that the cost had almost doubled to more than £70.6m.

In a Tynwald question for written reply, Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh asked the Minister what the final cost of the lease acquisition and build of the Liverpool ferry terminal project is and whether there are any remaining costs yet to be finalised.

In his response, published on Friday on the Tynwald website, Mr Crookall said: ‘The lease for the land from Peel Land and Properties was £3.5m.

‘In addition to this stamp duty and professional fees totalled £167,500.

‘The final build cost (and therefore final account) of the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal, Liverpool project has not yet been fully determined.

‘This is as expected at this time and is compliant with the terms of the contract.’

He said this was a target cost contract with an activity schedule where the contractor estimates the project cost, including overheads and preliminaries, at tender stage.

‘Adjustments to the target cost can occur during the contract project through compensation events. Final payment is assessed by the project manager post-completion, with mechanisms in place for dispute resolution if the assessment is contested,’ he explained.

‘Under the contract framework, a final account is typically settled 65 weeks after construction completion, and therefore at this point in time we are unable to confirm the final cost, as the final account is still to be determined and settled.’

Originally a new terminal building would have cost the taxpayer nothing. Back in April 2015, the Peel Group offered to construct a like-for-like replacement facility for the life-expired Pier Head landing stage for about £18m excluding land.

Peel identified the Princes Half-Tide Dock site as being the most suitable part of its Liverpool Waters development for the ferry terminal.

But it said it would be unwilling to make such a capital investment without a long-term commitment from the ferry operator to use the facility - which at the point the Steam Packet, then still under private ownership, could not do as its sea services agreement only ran to 2026.

Then the government got involved and in 2016 the Department of Infrastructure said it would cost an estimated £25m if it was to design and construct the facility.