The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company says safety reasons have forced it to reschedule a number of sailings next week.

The journeys impacted are all scheduled to take place between Bank Holiday Monday, May 6 to Saturday May 11 and only affect Heysham sailings docking at the King Edward VIII linkspan.

The Steam Packet blamed the disruption on ‘berth depth issues’ at Douglas, with low tides set to hit both arrival and departure times for the ferry firm’s vessels.

A spokesperson for the Steam Packet said: ‘Ordinarily this would not pose an operational issue.

‘However, the most recent Notice to Mariners confirmed a berth depth of 5 meters under Admiralty Chart Datum against a Sea Services Agreement obligation of 6.5m.

‘For safety reasons all vessels must maintain a certain amount of water below keel while manoeuvring.

‘The combination of tidal conditions and berth depth mean this will not be possible at certain times next week, forcing the company to make changes to the sailing schedule for safety reasons.’

These changes will affect both Manxman and Ben-my-Chree, according to the Steam Packet.

The Ben-my-Chree is set to take on Tuesday’s daytime return sailing to and from Heysham due to planned maintenance on safety equipment aboard the Manxman.

It will also now be drafted in to operate additional freight sailings on Wednesday and Thursday in order to ensure the changes to the sailing schedule don’t affect freight supplies. 

While the Steam Packet did not release any further details on which sailings would be affected, it said all passengers hit by the changes would be contacted by the company’s reservations team.

A spokesperson for the Steam Packet added: ‘The company has attempted to keep all changes as minimal as possible and apologise for any inconvenience caused to our passengers.

‘Customers are reminded that it is important to provide a mobile number and/or email address when making their booking in order to be kept informed of any changes to check-in or sailing times.’