Ringy Rose Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 (edited) I was on Manxman on Thursday and it is a very impressive piece of kit. Knocks spots off the Ben, which the usual experts also said was too big and couldn’t operate in bad weather. Manxman also slowed down to about 10 knots for a while about 11am on my sailing, because the Ben was on berth in Heysham having run an extra service for freight. So Manxman slowed down rather than rush to Heysham only to have to stop on the final approach. The captain explained all this on the tannoy. Turns out they have enough crew for all three boats, there goes another conspiracy theory. As for selling the Ben, Condor have just bought a sister ship to the Ben from New Zealand, and it is reported they paid significantly over market value to secure it. It’s likely that if the Ben went on sale there’d be similar demand. Manannan’s not getting any younger, so the revenue would come in very handy. Edited August 26, 2023 by Ringy Rose 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blade Runner Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 (edited) 20 hours ago, woolley said: Yes. I see they are after a tug. https://in-tendhost.co.uk/iomg/aspx/viewpopup.aspx?id=e382a56f-85b2-42aa-bfe8-0153ffe0eaa9&ProjectID=3057 But presumably if the Steam Packet needs the services of one, then the Steam Packet rather than the government would be procuring it? (Or at least I would bloody well hope so!) Why would the IOMSPCo pay for a tug? In a Harbour they dock at? Do you think they supply IOM gov paid for Tugs in Heysham, Liverpool or other places they dock? Tugs that enable craft to dock are always paid for by the port the ship is trying to dock at. It is part of the deal, you come here, we will help you dock. I am really disappointed with you Woolley, you are really not living up to your previous intelligent posts, are you okay? For dessert https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/manxman-experiences-minor-issue-on-way-to-heysham/ Edited August 26, 2023 by Blade Runner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 1 hour ago, Blade Runner said: Why would the IOMSPCo pay for a tug? In a Harbour they dock at? Do you think they supply IOM gov paid for Tugs in Heysham, Liverpool or other places they dock? Tugs that enable craft to dock are always paid for by the port the ship is trying to dock at. It is part of the deal, you come here, we will help you dock. Well, you apparently know about paying for a tug… 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 @Blade Runner Have you noticed those cruise ships visiting the Island recently? Isn't it perfectly possible that a tug might be wanted to assist them particularly those that can tie up in the harbour? Isn't it entirely possible that the acquisition of a tug might be the first step towards the Government wasting money on a cruise ship terminal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manxman1234 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 37 minutes ago, manxman1980 said: @Blade Runner Have you noticed those cruise ships visiting the Island recently? Isn't it perfectly possible that a tug might be wanted to assist them particularly those that can tie up in the harbour? Isn't it entirely possible that the acquisition of a tug might be the first step towards the Government wasting money on a cruise ship terminal? Have you noticed the size of the majority of them compared to the harbour 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 42 minutes ago, Jarndyce said: Well, you apparently know about paying for a tug… Too much windage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lamb Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 10 minutes ago, Gladys said: Too much windage. Inadequate thrusters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 22 hours ago, P.K. said: Keeping folks supplied with factual, up-to-date information would kill all the speculation stone dead. So they are looking for a tug (so to speak). As it's public money they should let those paying for it why they need it... But should that extend to giving out a running commentary of every operational glitch? Of course not. The government is looking for a tug. It's Blade Runner who has made the leap that this is because the new boat cannot berth without one, but we have no evidence whatsoever for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesypeas Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTeapot Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 You would think that buying a tug would also require hiring people to operate it. In the article a while back about Captain Carters retirement it suggested the steam packet would crew it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 3 hours ago, Blade Runner said: Why would the IOMSPCo pay for a tug? In a Harbour they dock at? Do you think they supply IOM gov paid for Tugs in Heysham, Liverpool or other places they dock? Tugs that enable craft to dock are always paid for by the port the ship is trying to dock at. It is part of the deal, you come here, we will help you dock. I am really disappointed with you Woolley, you are really not living up to your previous intelligent posts, are you okay? For dessert https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/manxman-experiences-minor-issue-on-way-to-heysham/ Well stranger things certainly happen. We're currently paying for a terminal in another country! You are only guessing at the purpose of the tug, unless you have more information? Dessert? What of it? Clearly just a minor glitch, clearly, since it took all of 10 minutes to sort out. I appreciate that you would have preferred it to be something more serious. Your disappointment in me can come nowhere close to mine in you. Once upon a time you posted decent and interesting content, but now, for some reason, you are posting highly irritated commentary, speculating crap about stuff that really shouldn't concern you at all. Your move doesn't seem to have improved your demeanour for sure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 2 hours ago, Manxman1234 said: Have you noticed the size of the majority of them compared to the harbour 🤣 Yes, I was more thinking of the ones that can come alongside in Douglas and also the idea that keeps coming up about building a cruise terminal to accommodate the bigger vessels. Having a tug available would be useful for that last bit. @Blade Runner Just thinking back to when the Ben was purchased and the comments about her. It's worthwhile considering she was not a like for like replacement. The Ben effectively replaced the Peveril and put the Lady of Mann into semi retirement before she was eventually sold off. There was a lot of skepticism about her especially because the Lady of Mann was the last sideloader and the last vessel purpose built for the Island. The Ben was not specifically designed for the Isle of Man and was an off tye shelf design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Carter Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 (edited) 14 hours ago, Blade Runner said: Why would the IOMSPCo pay for a tug? In a Harbour they dock at? Do you think they supply IOM gov paid for Tugs in Heysham, Liverpool or other places they dock? Tugs that enable craft to dock are always paid for by the port the ship is trying to dock at. It is part of the deal, you come here, we will help you dock. I am really disappointed with you Woolley, you are really not living up to your previous intelligent posts, are you okay? For dessert https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/manxman-experiences-minor-issue-on-way-to-heysham/ With respect you are quite wrong in your assumption. The services of a tug, whether owned by a commercial tug company or a port authority, are always charged to and paid for by the ship that the tug is assisting. In very rare cases, some port authorities will include the cost of Towage in their overall dues package but this usually only happens if Towage is compulsory, for example the Port of Fowey in Cornwall. In all other cases the tug is charged out at commercial rates. Modern tugs even medium sized ones are very expensive, to buy new usually between £3 and £5 million, and then they need to be manned, insured and maintained. To achieve this they need to be fully and profitably employed. At the present time all the tugs in Liverpool are owned by 3 commercial companies, Boluda, Svitzer and Carmet, there are no tugs permanently at Heysham, in Belfast by Svitzer and SMS, with smaller tugs owned by Ferrans and McLoughans, and in Douglas by Laxey Towing. Edited August 27, 2023 by Stephen Carter 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newaccount Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 7 hours ago, Blade Runner said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/manxman-experiences-minor-issue-on-way-to-heysham/ So... A 20 minute slowdown results in a 1 hr 40 minute delay to departure. The excess 1 hr 20 min delay being as a result of a heavy load inbound and outbound. Are they seriously saying that when the boat is full it can't operate to schedule and will result in 1 hr 20 min delay. Similar to the Manannan, which left Douglas at 925 on Friday due to the number of passengers on board. 25 minutes late. What's the point of having such a large capacity if it impacts the schedule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcousticallyChallenged Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 14 minutes ago, newaccount said: What's the point of having such a large capacity if it impacts the schedule They've only just gotten a much bigger boat. It's inevitable that it'll take a little while to get into the swing of things. On paper, they could be loading hundreds more passengers in the process, and significantly more vehicles too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.