Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Upgrade Works at Douglas Will Safeguard the Future Say Harbour Boss

6th September 2023
Isle of Man Director of Harbours, David Gooberman said the King Edward VIII Pier at Douglas would still be used by ferries while the work took place. The 24,161 gross tonnage newbuild Manxman which is almost twice larger than its predecessor, the Ben-my-Chree, currently together operate the Douglas-Heysham route.
Isle of Man Director of Harbours, David Gooberman said the King Edward VIII Pier at Douglas would still be used by ferries while the work took place. The 24,161 gross tonnage newbuild Manxman which is almost twice larger than its predecessor, the Ben-my-Chree, currently together operate the Douglas-Heysham route. Credit: SteamPacket-facebook

A project to upgrade Douglas Harbour on the Isle of Man will according to the boss of the works "protect the infrastructure for the next 50 years".

Director of Harbours, David Gooberman said the harbour remained a "critical piece of infrastructure" and it and the new Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s ferry Manxman (above pictured) at the King Edward VIII Pier needed to be protected.

The work which is to take place at the inner pier in Douglas, will see the project designed to keep the pier and the newbuild £76m ferry safe during gale force winds.

The walls of the pier will be repaired and fenders and mooring bollards replaced in a project which is to cost £6.61m. Work is to start this Saturday and is scheduled to last six months.

The new 950 passenger ferry, Manxman which last month entered service on the Douglas-Heysham route, is due to take over from the Ben-My-Chree as the company’s flagship vessel from October.

More from BBC News here.

Currently, both Manxman and Ben-My-Chree Afloat add, operate the main Isle of Man-England route using the King Edward VIII pier, with the newbuild running day time sailings and the existing flagship providing night-time crossings.

While fast-ferry Manannan maintains the link to Liverpool but using the adjacent Victoria Pier, where on the outside of the port’s main pier, is a layover berth. From there, the new and old ferries shift berths in between operating sailings based out of the King Edward VIII Pier.

Published in Isle of Man
Jehan Ashmore

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

Email The Author

Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button