Isle of Man ferry
MV
Ben-my-Chree
is a
Ro-Pax
vessel which was launched and entered service in 1998. The flagship of the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
, she primarily operates on the
Douglas
to
Heysham
route until replaced by
MV
Manxman
in Late 2023.
History
[
edit
]
Ben-my-Chree
was ordered in 1997 by
Sea Containers
for the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
. Costing around £24 million, she was built by
van der Giessen de Noord
of the Netherlands and launched on 4 April 1998. The sixth vessel to carry the name,
[3]
she is registered in
Douglas, Isle of Man
.
Ben-my-Chree
entered service on 5 July 1998,
Tynwald Day
- the Isle of Man's national holiday. At a gross tonnage of around 12,000, she was the largest ship to enter service with the company. The vessel received criticism due to her low passenger capacity of 500 (carrying no more than 350 per sailing), and the fact she had no open deck for passengers. The company insisted this was a "comfort level" for the vessel's size.
In 2004, the vessel underwent a refit carried out by Cammell Laird to increase passenger capacity with the addition of a new passenger module.
[4]
In 2014,
Ben-my-Chree
underwent a £1.6 million refit which included new LED lighting fitted to the lounge areas, refitted the crew rest area, this was also carried out by
Cammell Laird
.
[5]
Incidents
[
edit
]
On 25 July 2008,
Ben-my-Chree
suffered a technical failure, with the
Viking
taking her
Heysham
sailing until she was repaired.
On 26 March 2010,
Ben-my-Chree
experienced unintended movement while berthed at Heysham Port, resulting in a walkway collapse, trapping eight people in the gangway compartment of the shore access structure; they were assisted in leaving by the fire service.
[6]
On the evening of 1 May 2013 when arriving in
Douglas Harbour
from Heysham,
Ben-my-Chree
struck part of the King Edward Pier linkspan. In the collision part of the ship was slightly damaged, meaning the evening departure to Heysham was delayed by two hours, with the
Manannan
arriving from Liverpool as replacement. The service arrived at Heysham only around thirty minutes late.
Ben-my-Chree
re-entered service the following day with a freight-only service to Heysham, and full service from that point onwards.
[7]
In December 2011, the
Ben-my-Chree
suffered a number of cancelled sailings due to high winds and a problem with a bow thruster that had been damaged in May that year. Arrangements to dry dock the ship in June and then in September had to be cancelled after the manufacturers, Wartsilla, failed to complete the necessary repairs.
[8]
Chief executive of the Steam Packet Company wrote to the local newspaper, the Manx Independent to express the company's frustration at the ongoing problems.
[9]
On 12 February 2015,
Ben-my-Chree
lost control and collided with a fishing boat, while entering Douglas Harbour. The vessel's stern made contact with Battery Pier and a fishing boat at its mooring. It was found that the ship and the fishing boat only suffered superficial damage. The ship was checked by divers for signs of damage to the propellers and steering. It was then relocated to the Victoria Pier using a tug boat where passengers disembarked.
[10]
On 2 May 2015, the morning sailing from Douglas to Heysham and the afternoon return was cancelled.
Ben-my-Chree
was suffering from a "bow thruster... only operating on reduced power".
[11]
On 16 May 2015, there was a suspected chimney stack lagging fire was detected on the 8.45am crossing from Douglas to Heysham.
[12]
The sailing arrived in Heysham Port around 1 hour late and no passengers or crew were injured.
On 12 February 2017, the vessel made contact with the pier at Douglas whilst attempting to moor in high winds on arrival from Birkenhead.
MS
Arrow
and
HSC
Manannan
were planned to take over the freight and passenger duties.
[13]
On 9 April 2017,
Ben-my-Chree
suffered an engine failure after arriving at Heysham Port.
[14]
As a result two return crossings were cancelled and the vessel limped back to Douglas on one engine without passengers.
[15]
Design and construction
[
edit
]
Ben-my-Chree
is a
Ro-Pax
ferry, largely designed to carry freight, with two vehicle decks (decks 3 and 5) and two passenger accommodation decks (7 and 8). There are 20 four-berth cabins and crew accommodation for 22.
[16]
Her freight capacity is 200 vehicles (1235m).
[1]
A refit during her first winter improved passenger accommodation. Reclining chairs were added in the forward and aft lounges and partitions added between the restaurant and bar areas.
[16]
In 2004, a major refit allowed her to carry a full capacity of 636 passengers. A new accommodation section containing the Legends cafe/bar, Niarbyl Quiet Lounge and toilets was added. The refit also created an outside deck space and modifications were made to the vessel's stern door. Another refit in April 2008 included a new livery and internal refit.
The
Royal New Zealand Navy
multi-role vessel
HMNZS
Canterbury
, based on
Ben-my-Chree
'
s design, entered service in 2007.
Service
[
edit
]
On 16 July 2018,
Ben-my-Chree
completed 20 years of Manx service. She operates primarily on the
Douglas
to
Heysham
route, with occasional services to
Belfast
.
Replacement
[
edit
]
In March 2013, the chairman of local group TravelWatch, Brendan O’Friel, said "The Ben is currently mid-way through her life and she is starting now to develop problems of one sort or another. She is not as reliable as she was. A replacement would take two years to build and we are keen to see plans go ahead."
[17]
In Issue 17 of the company newsletter,
Steam Packet Times
, Chief Executive Mark Woodward explained that "Now that the refinancing has been completed we have begun the process of assessing the longer term - it is clear that the most significant investment in the coming years will be replacement vessels for
Ben-my-Chree
and
Manannan
."
[18]
In May 2016, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company outlined plans to replace the
Ben-my-Chree
as part of their proposed
Strategic Sea Services
offer to the Isle of Man Government.
[19]
Under the proposal, the 1998-built
Ben-my-Chree
would be "replaced by 2019?2021" with a new build vessel that would be 140-metres long and have a capacity of 800 passengers. The
Ben-my-Chree
would then be retained as a third vessel to offer cover to the fleet.
On 1 December 2020, the replacement for
Ben-my-Chree
was named
MV
Manxman
. On Christmas Eve 2021 she was laid down at
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard
.
Manxman
entered service on 17 August 2023.
[20]
References
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Current fleet
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Former vessels (1830-99)
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Former vessels (1900-98)
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1
= New as
Mona's Isle
,
2
= Chartered
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Ferries of the Irish Sea
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Current ships
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Ferry ports
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