The departure of Saturday afternoon’s Manxman sailing from Liverpool was delayed for nearly an hour and a half because of ‘unexpected issues’ with some of the new terminal’s facilities.

It is understood that the there was a problem with the luggage conveyor belt, which slowed loading of an already busy crossing.

Foot passengers also had to board via the car deck instead of the walkway to the terminal that only opened in the summer at the cost of £78million.

The Steam Packet’s flagship is expected back in Douglas shortly after 6.30pm, with this evening’s sailing to Heysham still set to depart at 7.45pm.

The Manxman heads to Belfast tomorrow (Sunday) meaning it isn’t scheduled to be back in Merseyside again until next weekend.