The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has said that a technical issue on board the Ben-my-Chree was the reason for this morning’s delayed departure.

The Ben-my-Chree, which has taken over duties from Manxman while she undergoes berthing trials in Liverpool, departed Douglas at 10am this morning, more than an hour later than scheduled.

It’s had a knock on effect, resulting in this afternoon’s sailing from Heysham now set to depart for Douglas at 3.15pm instead of its original schedule of 2.15pm.

Passengers are now asked to check-in no later than 2.15pm.

This evening’s Douglas to Heysham sailing will now depart at 8.30pm rather than the scheduled 7.45pm departure.

The Steam Packet has now issued a statement, explaining that their engineering team ‘identified and quickly rectified a technical issue on board’ the sailing this morning (Monday).

The full statement reads: ‘The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's engineering team identified and quickly rectified a technical issue on board Ben-my-Chree ahead of its sailing this morning (September 30th).

‘This resulted in a short delay to Ben-my-Chree's 8.45am departure to Heysham.

‘This afternoon's 2.15pm Ben-my-Chree sailing to Douglas will now depart at 3:15pm.

‘All affected passengers have been notified and are asked to check in no later than 2.30pm.

‘We'd like to thank our engineering team for fixing the issue quickly, our crews for working incredibly hard to ensure sailings resume as close to schedule as possible, and passengers for their patience and understanding.’

Today (Monday) is the first day of the Ben-my-Chree stepping in for the Manxman while the latter undergoes a series of inspections, maintenance, and berthing trials at the new Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool.

The trials will take place over a two-week period starting today, with the Manxman to be out of service for two-and-a-half weeks.

Manxman will enter a brief dry dock, a routine procedure for a new vessel, where it will undergo a comprehensive inspection of all parts of the vessel, completing a number of warranty items including inspection of the underwater areas and bow thrusters.

Yesterday (Sunday), the Manxman was spotted circling off the west coast of the island.

It's now in Douglas and this morning docked at the King Edward VIII Pier.

Isle of Man Today has contacted the Steam Packet Company as to when it’s due to sail to Liverpool, as well as why she was circling off the west coast yesterday (Sunday).