Crew Reviews, Ratings & Info for Manannan

**Title: Engine Troubles Encountered by Ferry 'Manannan' During Return Trip** **Content:** The 'Manannan' faced a technical setback while on her return journey from Liverpool to Douglas on the evening of April 19, 2026. Prompt emergency repairs were conducted, allowing the ferry to continue her voyage, albeit at a reduced speed. Passengers were briefly impacted, but safety measures ensured a smooth continuation of the service.

The 'Manannan's final voyage of the year on the night of Oct 26, which set off at 7.15 p.m. from Liverpool to Douglas ended with several vehicles damaged on the car deck after breaking loose during the stormy trip amid wind force 7 or 8 and wave heights of 2,7 metres halfway up the Mersey. During the crossing, an indication of smoke was detected from one of the vessel’s main engines. In line with established safety protocols, the engine was shut down, and the Master activated a “Working Party Red” alert, calling the crew to muster. A thorough investigation was swiftly conducted and the crew was stood down shortly after. As a precautionary measure, the affected engine was shut down to allow for further assessment. The crew were helping sick people, scared people and handing out sick bags, even when some of them were being sick themselves. The ferry did not reach its destination until Oct 27 at 2 a.m. GMT, about four hours later than planned. Reports with photos: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/steam-packet-praise-passengers-and-crew-following-significantly-rougher-than-normal-crossing/ https://gef.im/news/travel/watch-cars-damaged-and-sick-bags-flying-on-horrific-manannan-sailing-55201/?fbclid=Iwb21leANsVbRjbGNrA2xVs2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEejmY5f8YxjA6kMjnzOmXA4nkitkG543lepSAaXhypSvQQE19nacMNv-b2mWQ_aem_7250f1LhpfrKKUL-BT8JTw

The 'Manannan', en route to Liverpool, had to return to Douglas uponn the Isle of Man on the morning of Aug 7 due to a control fault on one of the generators. The ferry was one hour into its journey when the technical fault occurred. The ferry was deemed unsafe to enter the port of Liverpool. Subject to available capacity, passengers were transferred to the 'Manxman' sailings while repairs were carried out by engineers and workshop teams. Sailings were cancelled for the remainder of the day. Foot passengers at the Manx ferry terminal in Liverpool choosing to sail on Aug 8 at 02:15 a.m. from Heysham weretransferred to the Lancashire port via a free coach. After repairs, the ship left the port again on the morning of Aug 8, en route to Liverpool. Scheduled crossings to and from Liverpool on the vessel also had to be called off on July 27 and 28 due to a previous generator issue, which saw specialist engineers travel to the island to carry out repairs.

The 'Manannan's sailings have resumed July 29, after two days of cancellations due to a generator fault.vSpecialist engineers travelled to the island on July 28 to work on the issue, which impacted the ferry, overnight. Journeys between Douglas and Dublin set sail shortly before 07:00 a.m. BST, with sailings to Liverpool due resume later. However, that crossing and its evening return have both been pushed back by an hour. The ferry was due to set sail from Douglas to Liverpool at 4:00 p-m-, with its return scheduled for 8:15 p.m.

The 'Mannanan' suffered a generator failure on the night of July 26, 2025, which resulted in the cancellation of the sailings between Liverpool and Douglos (Isle of Man) on July 27 and 28. The damage required significant maintenance and testing before the ferry could resume service. The ship remained sidelined in Douglas for repairs. Engineers and Workshop team were in the process of swapping out one of the generator sets with the spare unit kept ashore. This was a major undertaking which commenced on Sunday and will see the unit installed today. Additional fitting work and commissioning work was ongoing. In order to expedite repairs, IOMSPC was also flying in specialist electrical engineers this afternoon to perform further diagnostic checks and assist in fixing the issue. At the same time, the electrical engineering team were taking the opportunity to tackle an ongoing electrical issue with another of the vessel’s generator sets. This improves the chances of having sufficient generator capacity to resume service at the earliest opportunity. Affected passengers have been transferred to the company’s ferry 'Manxman ',where possible, with coaches laid on for foot passengers between Liverpool and Heysham, while the reserve ropax ferry 'Ben-my-Chree' was undertaking overnight freight to free up capacity.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company was working to restore the 'Manannan' to full power after a problem with one of its engines was discovered on April 5, 2025. The vessel had just returned to service on the Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin routes following its routine winter overhaul. during a crossing on April 5, an issue with the control system on one of its four main engines was detected. For safety reasons, the engine had to be shut down. Since then, the crew and engineering team, alongside representatives from the control system’s manufacturer, have been carrying out round-the-clock tests to identify and resolve the fault.

Passengers and vehicles were unable to leave the 'Manannan' on Aug 22, 2024, in Liverpool due to excessive movement’sof the link span. Steam Packet took the decision to wait for high water, which should improve conditions so people may get off.

Some passengers on the 'Manannan' were kept on board for more than three hours when the vessel docked after wind and tidal conditions in the River Mersey made it unsafe to disembark. The ferry arrived and docked in Liverpool on April 8, 2024, at about 09:45 a.m. BST. But letting the passengers off the vessel was paused by the ship's master after the conditions worsened, affecting the motion of the vessel next to the berth. However, the vessel left on its return journey to Douglas at 2:45 p.m.