The future of the Ben-my-Chree has been thrown into the spotlight again after the Manxman was damaged as she tried to berth in high winds at Heysham.

Passengers who had been waiting to board the Manxman in the early hours of Wednesday were transferred to the Ben who as luck would have it was already alongside.

She was in Heysham to provide additional freight cover during the Manx Grand Prix.

Following the launch into service of the flagship Manxman just over a year ago, the Ben-my-Chree is ordinarily moored at Douglas harbour as a stand-by vessel.

And the Steam Packet Company has previously announced its intention to sell the 25-year-old ship and use the MV Arrow freighter as its back-up vessel instead. This would require a change to the Sea Services Agreement.

Asked whether Manxman’s collision would raise fresh questions about the Ben’s retention as a stand-by vessel, Steam Packet managing director Brian Thomson said: ‘There are reasons for and against.

‘Some of them are business reasons, some of them are operational reasons.

‘It’s one of those things that I think is under consideration.

‘The company has asked for permission to sell the Ben because there is a financial implication for keeping a 25-year-old ship.

‘Yes it worked great last week but it needs to be maintained as well so there will be a bigger investment in that if we are to keep it long term.’

The Steam Packet board’s business plan for 2024 reveals that while revenue rose last year and is budgeted to increase again this year, to £69.9m, costs have risen more - from just over £40m in 2022 to an estimated £46.2m last year and by a predicted further £4.65m this year to £50.9m.

This 10.1% increase in costs is a reflection of continuing high inflationary pressures, particularly in the first half of the year, the board noted.

But it said it also reflects the additional cost of holding the Ben-my-Chree as a back-up vessel, as well as the cost of holding the MV Arrow while the company attempts to reach agreement with the Department of Infrastructure to replace the Ben with the Arrow.

‘The board believes that the retention of BMC in semi-permanent lay-up will reduce her reliability and incur substantial future maintenance costs,’ it said.

The business plan gives a figure of £0.5m for the costs of lay-up.

A key assumption of the budget is that the MV Arrow charter income is equivalent to her operating costs of £2.2m. Failure to achieve this is likely to result in a material reduction in annual profitability, the business plan warns.

The Manxman has had a temporary repair to allow it to return to service, after it was holed above the waterline when it struck the harbour entrance at Heysham during high winds. A permanent repair will be carried out when it goes into drydock in five weeks’ time.