A CHANGE in Isle of Man ferry craft on tomorrow's (Thursday) Liverpool sailings will mean a switch to Heysham.
The change is necessary so the Steam Packet Company's fast craft Viking can have its repaired gearbox refitted.
The gearbox suffered a mechanical failure two weeks ago.
While the gearbox is fitted tomorrow, the Snaefell will take over the Vikin
g's route.
It means that the scheduled 5.45pm sailing to Liverpool and the 9.15pm return will now go via Heysham.
The 5.45pm will now sail at 6.45pm and the return sailing from Heysham will be at 10pm.
Coach transfers between Liverpool and Heysham are being offered for foot passengers.
The Viking will return to service on Friday with the 7.30am Isle of Man-Liverpool sailing.
Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward said: 'The problem with the Viking gearbox was unfortunate and led to an extra half hour on her sailing times for the last fortnight.
'We had anticipated that it would take three weeks to strip the gearbox down and rebuild it before refitting it.
'However, the gearbox manufacturer has now completed repairs and we should be back on schedule and running at normal speed for the Tynwald Day weekend, which is a busy time for us.
'We deeply regret any inconvenience experienced by our passengers following the Viking gearbox failure.'
The full article contains 229 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
