Costs related to a plan to extend one of the piers in Douglas Harbour used by ferry operator, the Isle of Man Steam Packet have yet to be finalised.

That's according to the interim director of the Department of Infrastructure's Harbours Division

It wants to install a marine dolphin and footbridge on the King Edward VIII Pier - this would include installing a mooring platform and mooring bollard.

The work is being described as one of the first steps of the Harbours Strategy approved by Tynwald in 2018.

£3.25 million was allocated for the project in the Budget but Paul Grace told Manx Radio (incl. audio) that total costs are unclear.

Sailing disruptions of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company have been confirmed by the ferry operator with schedules over the next few days, as work is completed to resolve mechanical issues affecting one of the linkspans at Douglas Harbour.

Following an initial inspection by Department of Infrastructure and Steam Packet engineers, it is estimated rectification will take at least until the end of this week.

According to the Steam Packet, both Ben-my-Chree and Manannan will be utilising the King Edward VIII Pier (story) linkspan, initially with the 02:15 sailing from Heysham which will be rescheduled to 01:45. This will enable Ben-my-Chree to arrive on berth in Douglas at 05:45.

The early arrival of the Heysham-Douglas sailing will relieve some of the congestion in the harbour of Manx capital by allowing Ben-my-Chree to discharge before moving off berth to facilitate Manannan’s loading and departure. Ben-my-Chree will then return to the linkspan to load and depart on the scheduled 08:45 sailing.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company is working closely with colleagues at the Isle of Man Government’s Department of Infrastructure’s Harbours division to resolve the mechanical issues as quickly as possible

Until the situation is resolved all sailings will operate from the functional linkspan.

All passengers booked on any affected sailings will be informed.

#RNLI - The RNLI’s Cork city fundraising branch is one of 10 charities shortlisted for Douglas Court Shopping Centre’s charity partner of the year.

Votes on Facebook will be tallied after the closing date this Friday 3 March for a prize to the winning charity that includes a €1,000 shopping voucher and collection days at the shopping centre throughout the year.

Votes can also be cast at the centre’s information desk for those not on social media.

#ISORA – The Offshore Racing Weekend, a higlhight of the 2014 ISORA calendar, started with a fast and furious 'midnight' race from Liverpool to Douglas with a fantastic spinnaker leg for the entire 75 mile voyage.  Results are available to download below. The first boat in was Jackknife who finished approximately 0200hrs on Saturday morning followed rapidly by the rest of the fleet and the last boat finishing approximately 0630hrs.

Bada Bing (Andy Napper, Andy and Annie Farrell) were overall winners again this year. Baba Bing, a Humphreys 30, was previously known as Men Behaving Badly, and subsequently Hot Rats and was built at Firmhelm in Pwllheli.

#isora – ISORA sailors are in bullish form after a strong turnout last night for the 97th race from  Liverpool to Douglas in the Isle of Man. Organisers of the Offshore Racing Weekend are hoping hoping that the 25–boat fleet for the first race to Douglas will increase for the Douglas to Dún Laoghaire race tomorrow, Sunday.

The 75–mile race started last night at 18.30 and is sailed under the burgees of Tranmere Sailing Club and Liverpool Yacht Club.

The second offshore race starts on Sunday morning at 0900hrs from Douglas to Dun Lagohaire, a distance of approximately 80 miles. 

The offshore weekend is a new Irish Sea initiative bringing together boats from across Northern Ireland,  the Isle of Man, England, Wales and Ireland. The venture has  won the support of Hudson Wight who are providing prizes for the weekend offshore series.

This race is also a feeder race for the ICRA championships in Dun Lagohaire next weekend.

#RNLI - The Irish Sea will soon have one of the most advanced lifeboats in service as Douglas RNLI in the Isle of Man has been earmarked to receive one of the new Shannon class.

The new design is 50% faster than the lifeboat it will replace, ensuring that those in need are reached even faster.

The RNLI plans to replace the Tyne class lifeboat at Douglas in 2016, which is reaching the end of its planned 25-year life span. The new lifeboat will cost £2 million (€2.32 million) and the RNLI is currently working to identify whether the funding for the new lifeboat can be raised from legacy gifts or whether fundraising activity is needed. The RNLI will announce this once the funding strategy has been identified.

The Shannon is the first modern RNLI all-weather lifeboat to operate with water jets, not propellers. Capable of 25 knots, the Shannon is 50% faster than the classes it has been designed to replace, which have a lower maximum speed of 17 knots.

The Shannon class will also improve safety for the charity’s volunteer crews, thanks to its shock absorbing seats and on-board computer system, which allows the crews to operate and monitor the lifeboat from the safety of their seats.

Michael Vlasto, RNLI operations director said of the new vessel: "I have had the privilege of being involved with the RNLI for over 38 years. In that time I have witnessed great advances in the charity’s lifeboats and seen many new vessels arrive on station. However, I have never seen our volunteer crews quite as excited as they are about the Shannon.

"This all-weather lifeboat is half as fast again as the lifeboats it has been designed to replace and using water jet propulsion, the manoeuvrability is exceptional. Most importantly though, the Shannon has been carefully developed with the safety of the volunteer crews at the very heart of the design, allowing them to shave life-saving moments off the time it takes to reach those in trouble at sea."

Some of the RNLI Douglas volunteer crew were given the opportunity to experience the Shannon first-hand with a trip around Douglas Bay last weekend as the prototype lifeboat visited the island as part of sea trials that began in January, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Afterwards, Douglas coxswain Neal Corran was asked for his immediate thoughts on the new lifeboat. "I was impressed with the boat’s speed and manoeuvrability and look forward to Douglas receiving theirs when it becomes available," he said.

The Shannon has been developed by the RNLI’s in-house team of naval architects, marine engineers and operators - including Irish naval architect Peter Eyre – to replace the majority of Mersey and some remaining Tyne class lifeboats as they reach the end of their operational life (subject to the RNLI’s five-year rolling review of lifesaving assets).

Once the Shannon is rolled out across the UK and Ireland, this class of lifeboat will make up a third of the RNLI all-weather lifeboat fleet, at which point the RNLI will have reached its aim of a 25 knot all-weather lifeboat fleet.

The majority of the 50-plus Shannon class lifeboats to be stationed throughout the UK and Ireland will be built at the RNLI’s new all-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, which is currently under construction. Bringing all-weather lifeboat production in-house will save the charity £3.7m annually – the equivalent of 2.5 Shannon class lifeboats.

#LIFEBOATS - Volunteers with Douglas RNLI in the Isle of Man were presented with Diamond Jubilee medals from the Queen last week in recognition of their tireless service to saving lives in the Irish Sea.

And they couldn't have found a better place to present them than the Fort Anne, the former home of RNLI founder Sir William Hillary.

The medal recipients included lifeboat crew Neal Corran (Coxswain); Juan Howland (Emergency. Cox); Tony Radcliffe (Mechanic); Peter Cowin (Emergency Mechanic); Donald Bottomley Emergency Mechanic); Simon Bushe (Emergency Mechanic); Peter Washington (Emergency Mechanic); Emily Heaton; Richard Coase; J Noel Farrell; Mark Versluijs; Richard Forrest; Graeme Cushnie; and Nigel Smallwood; plus shore crew Mary Corran (LOM); Paul Cunningham (Head Launcher); Alex McBride (Winch Operator); Robert Corran MBE; John McCreadie; and Paul Zywicki.

The near 700-passenger capacity ship operated by UK based Voyages of Discovery is scheduled to call at several Scotish ports before returning to Portsmouth via the North Sea.

Discovery has eight decks with facilities to include two swimming pools, one with a retractable roof, jacuzzis, lounges, bars, a library and gymnasium, lecture theatre, cinema, restaurants, an internet cafe, shop, beauty salon and a medical centre.

She was built in 1971 as the Island Venture, then renamed Island Princess after purchased by Princess Cruises, alongside her sister Pacific Princess which appeared in the popular US TV series sitcom the 'Love Boat' broadcast by ABC between 1977-1986.

In total there will be four cruise-calls during the season to Douglas but the next visit will be not until July when P&O Cruises Adonia calls on the 17th. The ten-year old 710 passenger vessel is due to be named by Dame Shirley Bassey at a ceremony held in Southampton later this month.

Also calling to Douglas will be Oceania Cruises brand new 60,000 tonnes / 1,250 passenger Marina on the 24th July and the final call is to be made by Noble Caledonia's Japanese built Clipper Odyssey in mid-August.