MANXMAN © Maritime Photographic

MANXMAN out of service for further two months

FerryThe Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has postponed the return to service of its RoPax MANXMAN by a full two months. A technical failure during the peak season in mid-July proved to have been caused by wear to the propeller shaft bearings, forcing the 2023-built ferry to withdraw from the route between Douglas on the Isle of Man and Heysham in England to the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. Back then, the operator believed that the ferry could return at the end of September.

On 8 September, The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company published an announcement, informing that MANXMAN is currently in the Wet Basin at the shipyard in Birkenhead. Its propulsion shaft bearings and liners are due to return to the shipyard in preparation for the ferry’s re-entry into dry dock.

Once in dry dock, work will begin to refit the bearings and both propulsion shafts, each weighing more than 17 tonnes and measuring 18 metres in length. Manxman will therefor now first return to service by the end of November 2026 - or earlier if the work is completed ahead of schedule.

Read also: MANXMAN out of service in the middle of the high season

© Shippax

sep 09 2026