Shrimpsvoices

Word is that Steam Packet will be pulling their Isle of Man boat from Heysham within the next 12 months!!
Bad news for Keith and those of us that like to nip across, now and again.
4 folk to be laid off apparently.

yeah is bad news.

Will that make Heysham port freight only?

Number 1 wrote:Will that make Heysham port freight only?

yeah but on a good note the bypass from the motorway will, bring in a lot of Irish investment, as Liverpool the traffic, takes ages to fight through a long way to the M6 when getting off the ferry


and only going to be a estimated 15-mins from Heysham to Motorway

bugger!

I've not heard about this. It would appear to be an odd decision because the super-dooper-seacat is due in operation later this year which should go to Liverpool daily all year around.

Freight ships have a license to carry up to 12 passengers, if steam packet continue to ship freight from Heysham then you will still be able to get in an out on the IOM freight service

you should be able to get onboard as a foot passenger or with a vehicle.

(No persons under 16 years of age is permitted on the freight ship at any time.)

Loyalsupporter wrote:Freight ships have a license to carry up to 12 passengers, if steam packet continue to ship freight from Heysham then you will still be able to get in an out on the IOM freight service

you should be able to get onboard as a foot passenger or with a vehicle.

(No persons under 16 years of age is permitted on the freight ship at any time.)

a bit like the Belfast freight ship.

Does anyone know how you make booking on the Belfast one I was looking into it but couldn't find any info on the web.

how they going to manage the tt traffic which is chaotic in the summer
scalehall shrimp

P/T Indie wrote:

a bit like the Belfast freight ship.

Does anyone know how you make booking on the Belfast one I was looking into it but couldn't find any info on the web.

The Heysham - Belfast freight ship doesn't take cars or foot passengers, but the Heysham - warrenpoint (just on the border between NI and ROI) does.

http://www.seatruckferries.com/web/seat ... enDocument

You can only book about a week in advance, I guess they wait to see if there is space as cargo probably earns more money.

It's a good service, although very strange being the only passengers on the service with an slightly scary Eastern European telling us when we were going to eat breakfast and lunch (and being offered cans of cold beer at 6.30 am in the morning).

A word of warning - it's sllloooooooow - took much longer when we got it than advertised on that site - set off about 1 hr earlier, arrived about 1 hr later than advertised! That was on the old boat though, I udnerstand they have a new one on the service now.

Cheers for that beer at 6.30am great stuff!

Is it a day time sailing going and night time coming back? and how easy is it to get from warren point to Belfast when you arrive?

P/T Indie wrote:
Is it a day time sailing going and night time coming back? and how easy is it to get from warren point to Belfast when you arrive?

Their best offer (£180) means a day time sailing both ways - setting off sometime around 7-8 am (you need to phone a day or two beforehand to confirm times). It costs £175 each way to do a night sailing. When I travelled last summer, you get a cabin for the duration of the trip, and there's a communal drivers area with a telly, some magazines and where you get your meals (breakfast and lunch)

Warrenpoint is about 1 hr from Belfast - pretty easy to get to Belfast, just follow the A1 to Lisburn, then pick up the M1 to Belfast

I have worked for both Norfolkline and Seatruck, Norfolkline go to Belfast and Dublin from Heysham and will take passenger accompanied vehicles as do seatruck who operate Heysham to Warrenpoint.

Norfolkline, Heysham office 01524 865050
Seatruck, Heysham office 01524 853512

Norfolkline used to have a call centre but I beleive you can book direct via the office

as for bookings, the more notice you can give the shipping company the better, alot of wagon drivers go to and from over the weekend

Loyalsupporter wrote:Norfolkline go to Belfast and Dublin from Heysham and will take passenger accompanied vehicles as do seatruck who operate Heysham to Warrenpoint.

Not according to enquiries I made last summer

captain sparkle wrote:Word is that Steam Packet will be pulling their Isle of Man boat from Heysham within the next 12 months!!
Bad news for Keith and those of us that like to nip across, now and again.
4 folk to be laid off apparently.

Would seem a strange decision:


"The Department of Transport says passenger figures at the (Douglas) Sea Terminal are already up on last year.
The latest statistics, covering January, show 500 more passengers and 200 more vehicles used ferries than last year.
But there’s mixed news on destinations, as numbers to Liverpool fell by 2.1 per cent, while the number of people travelling to Heysham rose 4.3 per cent.
Director of Harbours, Captain Michael Brew, says 2009 will be a challenging year but it has already started on a positive note.
He says the arrival of the new fast craft Manannan in May will help to generate more traffic."

Thats a bit grim. The ferry always looks busy enough, so a bit confusing really.

It is "only a word" though, so not confirmed as such yet!

There will be fireworks if it ever happens, eh Capt?

captain sparkle wrote:Word is that Steam Packet will be pulling their Isle of Man boat from Heysham within the next 12 months!!
Bad news for Keith and those of us that like to nip across, now and again.
4 folk to be laid off apparently.

the word you got from somewhere is incorrect

mickey wrote:the word you got from somewhere is incorrect

The [hopefully equally incorrect] word on the Isle is the route is indeed going and there will be some job losses on the Island.

The Ben is the freight boat. On Saturday morning it sails to Liverpool, Birkenhead, so if the rumour is true, then Manannin will go to the Pier Head in L'pool and the Ben-my-Chree will go to Birkenhead. Good to see the Steam Racket offering us a choice of either side of the Mersey

The 'word on the Isle' is that a Belfast freight company is also looking to pull out. Has the bypass finally come to late for the port?

Mickey, what do you know?

Keith wrote:

mickey wrote:the word you got from somewhere is incorrect

The [hopefully equally incorrect] word on the Isle is the route is indeed going and there will be some job losses on the Island.

The Ben is the freight boat. On Saturday morning it sails to Liverpool, Birkenhead, so if the rumour is true, then Manannin will go to the Pier Head in L'pool and the Ben-my-Chree will go to Birkenhead. Good to see the Steam Racket offering us a choice of either side of the Mersey

The 'word on the Isle' is that a Belfast freight company is also looking to pull out. Has the bypass finally come to late for the port?

Mickey, what do you know?

i could see the sense in shutting it down only until the bypass is finished in 2012?

Surely the timings of the Manx arrivals don't coincidence with any rush hour problems? It might not be the best route to a motorway (is Liverpool any better) but there's no major traffic problems at lunchtime and in the early hours of the morning.

Late night is fine but you lot have got so used to sitting an a slow moving car park that you no longer notice it! Last time I arrived on the lunch time boat, it took me 40 minutes to get to the M6 and less than 50 minutes to get from there to Warrington!

it took me 40 minutes to get to the M6

What's wrong with that?