This picture shows the damage sustained by the Manxman in the incident during the early hours of Wednesday.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company flagship was struck by a strong gust of wind as it came into berth at Heysham Port in Lancashire.

No one was injured and as many waiting passengers as possible were brought back to the island on the Ben-my-Chree.

A small dent and signs of scraping are visible in the photo.

In a statement issued later on Wednesday, the Steam Packet said it gave passengers on-board the vessel free drinks while crews worked to safely dock the ship in challenging conditions.

In an interview with Media Isle of Man on Wednesday, Steam Packet managing director Brian Thomson said the damage to the ship was minor and it is expected that the Manxman will be back in service by Thursday evening.

He said the incident left a hole in the shell plate above the waterline that was ‘relatively small’.

Mr Thomson said: ‘In the early hours of the morning, the Manxman had an allision with a quayside at Heysham due to the prevailing weather conditions, high winds and rough sea state. There was some what would be classed as minor damage.

‘However, that damage was enough to make the vessel unable to sail today.

‘When we assessed the situation with our engineers, we’ve come up with a repair plan.

‘So we will instigate a temporary repair.

‘She was due to go into dry dock in a few weeks’ time so that’s when the repair will be fully carried out.’

The incident happened in the midst of a 40-hour yellow weather warning which has cancelled Manx Grand Prix 2024 qualifying sessions and disrupted other sailings.

That alert, issued by the Met Office, has since been upgraded to amber.

Mr Thomson added: ‘It was just really bad luck, there was a gust of wind that caught it at the wrong time.

‘It was a manoeuvre that the ship’s done loads of times.

‘It is just unfortunate that the weather conditions on this occasion have caught it out.’

‘The weather has been really changeable over the last couple of days and really difficult to get an accurate forecast.

‘I don’t think there’s any blame to apportion. It’s just one of those situations where it’s bad luck. It’s an accident.

‘Luckily, the damage is minor enough that we can put a temporary repair on it, pending the dry dock and we’ll get her back in service as soon as possible.

‘Luckily, we had the Ben-my-Chree doing a freight services which was already alongside at Heysham and was able to bring passengers back last night.’