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Ferry sailings linking Douglas, Isle of Man and Liverpool have resumed for the first time this year following the easing of the island's border restrictions.

As BBC News writes, limited passenger demand had seen the Ben-my-Chree operate only Heysham services.

The Manannan traditionally starts its Liverpool crossings in March each year.

Almost 600 passengers were due to travel on Thursday, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said.

The majority of those people were due to arrive on the island from Liverpool on the afternoon and evening return crossing.

Changes to the island's border restrictions mean that people from the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 for at least two weeks can travel to the island freely without testing or isolation.

About 31,600 passengers have booked to travel on the Steam Packet vessels during July, 16,955 of which are due to sail on the Manannan

Published in Ferry

A new ferry terminal along with a promenade both multi-million pound projects funded by the Isle of Man government are facing further delays, reports BBC News.

The terminal in Liverpool, which was originally scheduled to be completed in December, is now set to be finished in January 2022.

The development had been held up due to the impact of Covid-19 on the UK construction industry, Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker said.

The Douglas Promenade revamp is also set to be delayed a further two months.

That project, which was due to be completed by 31 March next year, has faced several hold-ups due to the "complexity" of work underneath the carriageway and would now not be completed until "more towards June", Mr Baker said.

The reopening of Broadway, a major junction onto the promenade that had been due to reopen in September, would now take place on Thursday, he said.

The cost of the refurbishment is still set to remain within the £26m currently allocated for the scheme, he added.

More details on the delays by clicking here.

Published in Ferry

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).