Just though I'd start this thread to allow members to track the movements of the IoMSPCo Fleet.
I'll start things off by reporting that Arrow has departed Anchorage on the 21.02.18 at 0600 for Holyhead Port. Arrow entered Holyhead at 1113 and berthed at 1132.
Also, just out of interest, what berth is she currently on in Holyhead?
She is not on a berth, she is alongside the Rio Tinto jetty I think.
The Isle of Man Government is proposing to purchase 100% of the Steampacket Company for £124 million.
Not a massive fan of nationalisation but this does make sense, hopefully will still be run like a private company and focus on delivering a return for both customers and stakeholders, some big investment due as replacing Ben and Manannan coming due soon.
Could never understand why they did not buy the Hammeroddes sister ship which ended up down under as Straitsman a variation on the Ben design, which was a junior version of Isle of Inishfree.
Ben-my-Chree is 20 years old. That's hardly ancient. I would say IOMSPC could keep her sailing for another 10 / 12 years. Pride of Burgundy is a good few years older, and will likely be around for the next three or four years.
I know I'm not the only one questioning the price tag of £124m! For two vessels which some say are part their best (the Ben was £24m new and Manannan cost around the same to acquire), the takeover of a soon to expire user agreement which the government themselves will re-award, and access to Heysham and Liverpool (and of course the port that the Manx governement own already!) it does sound like a lot of money. I get the feeling the Steam Packets debt is a factor, and of course the desire to get their hands on the brand. I would suggest they need to bring in some people with real knowledge and experience of the ferry industry and not just continue as things were on the management side or worse, try to run it themselves. That's if the deal gets approved of course.
Quote from: giftgrub on May 08, 2018, 10:31:41 PM
Not a massive fan of nationalisation but this does make sense, hopefully will still be run like a private company and focus on delivering a return for both customers and stakeholders, some big investment due as replacing Ben and Manannan coming due soon.
Could never understand why they did not buy the Hammeroddes sister ship which ended up down under as Straitsman a variation on the Ben design, which was a junior version of Isle of Inishfree.
Ben would be closer to a shortened Norbay I would have thought. With Dueodde/Straitsman the problem is where do you use her? It's not like they are using Arrow a lot.
Yes £124 million is very overpriced for a company that small, but I also suspect debt is the factor at play, I read elsewhere that IOMSP had debts of £74 million, and that a realistic valuation of the company was £45-50 million, so it looks like they paid what the company was worth and paid off the debt as well in a single movement commercial transaction.
The sale is completed the IOM government is now the owner of the Steampacket Company and it's two vessels which have a book value of slightly above scrappage value.
The end of ferry services from Ireland to the IOM has been hinted at by the Chairman of the Steam Packet Company on a radio interview on Sunday.
listen here
https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/irish-ferry-passengers-abandoned-iom/
Quote from: ferryfan on July 03, 2018, 01:13:18 PM
The end of ferry services from Ireland to the IOM has been hinted at by the Chairman of the Steam Packet Company on a radio interview on Sunday.
listen here
https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/irish-ferry-passengers-abandoned-iom/
Given how cheap and convenient flying is its no surprise the steam packet struggles with passenger numbers outside of TT season to be honest. Thats before we even consider the lack of appeal to people of the destination (given the choice of France or Spain or the Isle of Man for your holiday which would you choose?). Perhaps if steam packet services were more frequent it would help overall numbers a bit, but they'll still be sailing with largely empty vessels - just more often.
BEN-MY-CHREE is out of service.
QuoteThe latest from the Packet:
"***SAILING INFORMATION UPDATE issued at 1055 28/07/2018***
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company can confirm that on the overnight crossing from Heysham the Ben-my-Chree suffered a major turbo charger failure on one of its main engines while approaching its berth in Douglas harbour. The failure also caused a small fire which was immediately dealt with by on-board crew. Douglas fire crew were asked to attend the vessel as a precaution.
Steam Packet Company engineers are working to replace the failed turbocharger to get Ben-my-Chree back in service as quickly as possible. An additional Manannan sailing will be scheduled tonight subject to crew availability and this will be confirmed later today.
Unfortunately the incident also coincides with unexpectedly poor forecast weather which has meant that the 0730 Manannan sailings to Liverpool and the return at 1115 had to be cancelled. It is currently expected that this afternoon's Manannan sailing at 1500 will go ahead as scheduled.
Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: 'We are grateful for the quick and efficient work of the crew on board, and for the fire crew who attended the vessel on its arrival. Unfortunately this incident has meant that we have had to cancel this morning's sailing, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
'We are endeavouring to arrange an additional sailing on Manannan as the weather improves and will be confirming this around 1430 to ensure we can get as many passengers to their destination as possible.'"
Perhaps predictably to anyone who knows anything about engines, this followed on Sunday morning
Quote*** Statement issued at 0950. Isle of Man Steam Packet Company engineers, assisted by our shoreside workshop staff and representatives of the manufacturer of the failed turbocharger, have continued throughout the night to repair and replace failed components.
Unfortunately further damage has been identified by the manufacturer and additional spare parts have had to be sourced which will need to be delivered from the UK. It is anticipated that these parts will arrive on the Island later today. This will mean that the rescheduled sailings between the Isle of Man and Heysham at 1245 and 1815, along with the 1945 and 0215 sailings, will now be cancelled.
We are endeavouring to arrange, as we did yesterday, an additional Manannan overnight sailing which we will confirm by 1500 today.
Passengers are asked to call our Reservations team on 01624 661661 to transfer to the next available sailing or registered account holders may amend their bookings online.
We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our passengers.
Mark Woodward, CEO commented 'I want to personally apologise to our passengers and to assure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise the out-of-service time of the Ben as a result of this unexpected mechanical failure. With the assistance of specialists from the manufacturer of the failed turbocharger overnight, we now expect to be able to complete repairs today and have her back in service tomorrow morning.'
Then
QuoteGood afternoon from Douglas Terminal
The Manannan departed to Liverpool at 15:40hrs and has an expected an expected arrival time of 18:35hrs.
Due to the Manannan operating additional sailings to and from Heysham yesterday evening and to allow for legislative hours of rest for crew. There will be a short delay to the 19:15hrs sailing from Liverpool, this sailing and will now depart at 20:00hrs. Passengers are asked to check in no later than 19:15hrs.
For further sailing information please visit our website.
No further update appears to have been posted on the Ben at the time I'm writing
I can hear the laughter from the former owners echoing across the Irish Sea.
Quote from: ferryfan on July 30, 2018, 12:54:34 PM
I can hear the laughter from the former owners echoing across the Irish Sea.
Different people own it but not necessarily running it. Perhaps steampacket can confirm, but afaik the same people are still running the show? (Not necessarily a bad thing, especially if the other option is a bunch of people who aren't familiar with the industry)
These things happen, though I feel it was rather naive to think that a failed turbo wouldn't have a knock-on effect! I suppose there could be a bit of crisis management going on - what they put out publicly is the best case scenario so they can deal with the fallout in small chunks rather than all at once.
The IOM government bought the Steam Packet company for £124.3 million. The Steam Packet Company had £76 million worth of debt at the time of purchase, the two vessels are almost worthless. Ben My Chree cost Sea Containers £24 million to build while HSC Manannan was purchased for £20 million, the value of the assets (at time of purchase) and the company debt comes to £120 million.
Must make sense to someone.
Quote from: ferryfan on July 30, 2018, 10:36:54 PM
The IOM government bought the Steam Packet company for £124.3 million. The Steam Packet Company had £76 million worth of debt at the time of purchase, the two vessels are almost worthless. Ben My Chree cost Sea Containers £24 million to build while HSC Manannan was purchased for £20 million, the value of the assets (at time of purchase) and the company debt comes to £120 million.
Must make sense to someone.
There's also the user agreement and berthing slots, the name, staff contracts, holiday business, and the goodwill for course (which is hard to put a financial value on), plus any other assets the steam packet has. Due to inflation the value of the vessels at the time of purchase which was some time ago isn't really relevant tbh, but £24m back in 1998 is roughly equivalent to £40m today. Ultimately though the value of the marine assets would be determined by the market as much as anything. I imagine for the Manx government to start from scratch and get a company of their own to the same level would have cost more to be honest, and certainly would have taken more time.
Quote from: Steven on July 31, 2018, 06:54:04 AM
Quote from: ferryfan on July 30, 2018, 10:36:54 PM
The IOM government bought the Steam Packet company for £124.3 million. The Steam Packet Company had £76 million worth of debt at the time of purchase, the two vessels are almost worthless. Ben My Chree cost Sea Containers £24 million to build while HSC Manannan was purchased for £20 million, the value of the assets (at time of purchase) and the company debt comes to £120 million.
Must make sense to someone.
There's also the user agreement and berthing slots, the name, staff contracts, holiday business, and the goodwill for course (which is hard to put a financial value on), plus any other assets the steam packet has. Due to inflation the value of the vessels at the time of purchase which was some time ago isn't really relevant tbh, but £24m back in 1998 is roughly equivalent to £40m today. Ultimately though the value of the marine assets would be determined by the market as much as anything. I imagine for the Manx government to start from scratch and get a company of their own to the same level would have cost more to be honest, and certainly would have taken more time.
Politicians should not make commercial decisions as they have not got the relevant experience. There is already a great suspicion surrounding the entire deal with some members of the Tynwald raising questions about the manner in which the sale was conducted with little debate. Will be interesting to see how it pans out especially when it comes to stumping up the funds for new vessels from the public purse.
Quote from: ferryfan on July 31, 2018, 11:54:15 AM
Quote from: Steven on July 31, 2018, 06:54:04 AM
Quote from: ferryfan on July 30, 2018, 10:36:54 PM
The IOM government bought the Steam Packet company for £124.3 million. The Steam Packet Company had £76 million worth of debt at the time of purchase, the two vessels are almost worthless. Ben My Chree cost Sea Containers £24 million to build while HSC Manannan was purchased for £20 million, the value of the assets (at time of purchase) and the company debt comes to £120 million.
Must make sense to someone.
There's also the user agreement and berthing slots, the name, staff contracts, holiday business, and the goodwill for course (which is hard to put a financial value on), plus any other assets the steam packet has. Due to inflation the value of the vessels at the time of purchase which was some time ago isn't really relevant tbh, but £24m back in 1998 is roughly equivalent to £40m today. Ultimately though the value of the marine assets would be determined by the market as much as anything. I imagine for the Manx government to start from scratch and get a company of their own to the same level would have cost more to be honest, and certainly would have taken more time.
Politicians should not make commercial decisions as they have not got the relevant experience. There is already a great suspicion surrounding the entire deal with some members of the Tynwald raising questions about the manner in which the sale was conducted with little debate. Will be interesting to see how it pans out especially when it comes to stumping up the funds for new vessels from the public purse.
They may well be asking lots of questions, but only one voted against the deal as I understand it!
Matt
Ben-my-Chree suffered damage to her propellers entering Heysham and has been taking out of service. She is en route to A&P Falmouth for repairs. A quick look at the IOMSPCO timetable shows Arrow taking a daily freight run with Manannan taking over the Douglas -Heysham route with Liverpool services suspended after today's' round trip.