The Isle of Man Ferry Service
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s goal is to give consistent, fast, and convenient ferry services and a good variety of promotional savings on fares to the public. The Company has fast vessels as well as conventional ones, and their modern fleet provides excellent service while on-board.
Besides normal routes, the Company has a few special day trip excursions to different destinations during the summer. The Company has its own travel agency, Steam Packet Holidays, in-house. The agency was previously named Magic Holidays.
Ferry services and ports have been expanded to include service between the Isle of Man’s port of Douglas and Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, and the English ports of Liverpool, Birkhead, and Heysham.
Service to England’s ports is mainly done by the Company’s main ship, the Ben-my-Chree, which can carry freight and normal car and human passenger traffic. Crossing time is normally around 3 ½ hours and happens twice daily. The Ben-my-Chree is a luxurious craft, offering berthed cabins with complimentary television and beverage services. The main route is to the port of Heysham, but the ship calls to the port of Birkhead during the winter, with a longer passage time of 4 hours, 15 minutes.
The Company now has a second, faster ship that offers service to England by way of the port of Liverpool in 2 ½ hours. The Manannan catamaran is luxurious, with cinemas, varied seating and even a café bar. The Liverpool port is located at Pier Head in the Capital of Culture, with the internationally famous Liver Buildings and major shopping within a short walking distance.
Besides service to England, the Company has service to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Dublin, Ireland. This service has been expanded to once-weekly, year-round service for each port from holiday-only service. The trip is 2 hours and 55 minutes to both ports.
Brief History of Steam Packet Company
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company was founded in 1830. Although other ferry companies served the Isle prior to this, their service was irregular and their boats were often unreliable.
The Island was often cut off from contact with the mainland for extensive periods of time due to this unreliability. Eventually, the local people decided that it was very important for the Island to have its own, dedicated ferry service. A mass meeting was held in Douglas, the Isle of Man’s capital city, in 1829. At that meeting, a committee was formed and charged with exploring the costs of establishing a proprietary Steam Packet, or steamship ferry line.
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. was inaugurated by its new ship, Mona’s Isle, on June 30, 1830. This vessel cost around £7,250 to construct. Its maiden voyage took it from Douglas to Liverpool, England. Since then, the Company has held to the principles upon which it was established by giving dedicated, dependable sea transport for the Isle of Man and its populace.
