navigation search isle of man steam packet company sheshaght phaggad bree ellan vannin type private industry transport founded 1830 headquarters douglas isle of man key people mark woodward chief executive robert quayle chairman owner 1996 2003 sea containers 2003 2005 montague private equity 2005 2011 macquarie bank 2011 present banco espirito santo website www.steam packet.com route map the isle of man steam packet company limited 1 abbreviated to iomspco . manx sheshaght phaggad bree ellan vannin is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world celebrating its 180th anniversary in 2010 . the company provides freight passenger and vehicle services between the isle of man sea terminal in douglas isle of man and five ports in the united kingdom and ireland . contents 1 user agreement 2 history 2.1 beginning of the company 2.2 war service 2.3 vehicle transport 2.4 2008 rebranding 2.5 today 3 ownership 4 fleet 5 present day operations 6 historic fleet 6.1 pre war steamers 6.2 the six sisters 6.3 side loading car ferries 6.4 ro ro ferries 6.5 fastcraft 7 incidents 7.1 2007 sea express 1 accident 7.2 2010 ben my chree accident 8 competition 8.1 2010 competition with mezeron 8.2 ellan vannin line 9 filmography 10 see also 11 references 11.1 notes 11.2 bibliography 12 external links user agreement edit the steam packet company is required to fulfil the terms of a user agreement negotiated with the island s department of transport . citation needed under the 2004 extension of the agreement the following minimum service levels are required inbound freight capacity 7 800 lane metres per week . service to north west uk ports 936 return sailings per year . summer period frequency to liverpool a daily service from april to the third week in october . services to the east coast of ireland 63 return sailings per year . compliance with the above requirements gains the sole user rights to the government owned linkspan in douglas harbour . citation needed the steam packet company owns the second linkspan and thus controls a monopoly on roll on roll off vehicle transport to and from the isle of man . in 2006 the company was under investigation by a select committee of tynwald the isle of man s parliament . one of the concerns of tynwald is the annual published profit margins by the isle of man steam packet company which according to hansard are 36 % almost three times the industry standard for ferry companies throughout the world . citation needed history edit mona s queen iv in 1961 beginning of the company edit there had been various shipping companies serving the isle of man before the formation of this company in 1830 but such crossings were irregular and vessels used were unreliable . as a result the island could be cut off for weeks at a time . isle of man steam packet poster . the manx people felt it was essential they should have their own dedicated service . a meeting was held in the island s capital douglas in 1829 from which was formed a committee charged with finding out the cost of acquiring a steam packet . on 30 june 1830 the forerunner of today s isle of man steam packet company was born when the brand new vessel mona s isle built at a cost of 7 250 sailed from douglas to liverpool on its very first sailing . from the inauguration of the service until january 1832 the company was known as the mona s isle company . for a brief period the company then traded as the isle of man united steam packet before assuming its present name in july 1832 . by the turn of the 20th century the isle of man steam packet company was serving numerous ports in england wales scotland and ireland . 2 ports served included liverpool silloth whitehaven holyhead ardrossan blackpool belfast and dublin . war service edit vessels and crews of the company were actively involved in both the first and second world wars . one vessel king orry was attached to the british grand fleet and led the german high seas fleet into scapa flow in the orkney islands at the end of the first world war . 3 another vessel viking was converted to become a seaplane carrier serving as hms vindex . during the first world war eleven out of a total fleet of fifteen steam packet ships were requisitioned by the admiralty . four of them were lost three retained by the government and four returned to service . ben my chree and manxman also served as aircraft seaplane carriers . 3 in the second world war ten of the fleet of sixteen ships were commandeered for active duty four of which were lost . the dunkirk evacuation was perhaps the company s finest hour with mona s isle iv being the first to leave dover and the first to complete the round trip during the evacuation . eight company ships took part in this mission rescuing a total of 24 699 british troops one in fourteen of those evacuated from dunkirk . sadly though the dunkirk evacuation also saw the company s blackest day when three of the line s ships were lost . mona s queen iii pictured shortly after she struck a mine on the approach to dunkirk may 29 1940 . mona s queen mined off dunkirk on 29 may ; fenella sunk by air attack whilst berthed alongside the east pier on 29 may ; king orry sustained heavy damage following several air attacks on 29 may and consequently sank off the beaches in the early hours of 30 may . 3 the anchor from mona s queen iii was raised as part of the 70th anniversary commemoration of operation dynamo at dunkirk . it is sited at kallow point in port st mary as a memorial to the company s crew who took part in the war . 4 vehicle transport edit four side loading roro car ferries were introduced beginning with manx maid in 1962 and followed by ben my chree 1966 mona s queen 1972 and lady of mann 1976 . mona s isle vi was the steam packet company s first stern loader in 1984 85 . the 1980s were tough times for the company with declining passenger numbers . strong competition from manx line s manx viking brought them close to collapse . in february 1985 they announced a merger with sealink who had by now taken over manx line . 5 the main uk port switched from liverpool to heysham thus ending albeit temporarily as it turned out an association lasting back to the company s origins . 2008 rebranding edit ben my chree entering douglas harbour in june 2007 a new ceo mark woodward was appointed to succeed hamish ross promising to improve the company s services and to return to the classic livery and promote the island s culture . the first part of the rebranding was first exercised with the sea express 1 becoming snaefell and superseacat two becoming viking the latter having now been sold and operating for atlantico line as the hellenic wind . the fleet received a brand new livery replacing the old seaco livery . all fleet members received complete internal refits which reflected the company s new colours and the rebranding of the company s on board lounges . the terminals received new signage and new uniforms were made for crew and shore staff . the company s first class lounge and members club were renamed with 1st lounge becoming the premium lounge and the blue riband club became the executive club . the quiet lounge was also renamed becoming the niarbyl reserved lounge . today edit in return for exclusive use of the linkspans at douglas the steam packet company has made a guarantee of regular services to the manx government . ben my chree and manannan provide regular services to england and ireland . in addition to the regular routes the company operates a small number of special day excursions to other destinations or round the isle of man during the summer months . extra sailings are scheduled during times of high demand such as the tt period . the company also operates its own in house travel agency steam packet holidays . ownership edit in 1996 the steam packet company became a wholly owned subsidiary of sea containers ltd headed by james sherwood who had pioneered the fast craft operation . in july 2003 the company was sold to montagu private equity for 142 million previously named hsbc private equity ltd . in 2005 the company was purchased by major australian investment bank macquarie bank for 225 million . 6 in april 2011 it was announced that the steam packet company had new owners banco esp rito santo . 7 fleet edit the company currently has a fleet of three vessels a year round conventional ro pax vessel a chartered ro ro freighter 8 and a fastcraft which operates on a seasonal basis . picture name built commissioned route s tonnage port of registry notes ms arrow august 1998 april 2014 douglas heysham 7 606 gt douglas on long term charter from seatruck ferries 9 ms ben my chree vi april 1998 july 1998 douglas heysham douglas birkenhead douglas dublin 12 747 gt douglas fleet flagship hsc manannan november 1998 may 2009 douglas liverpool douglas belfast douglas dublin 5 743 gt 10 douglas present day operations edit the steam packet company operates services between douglas heysham year round service douglas liverpool seasonal service march to november douglas birkenhead seasonal service november to march douglas belfast seasonal service april to september douglas dublin seasonal service april to september & december historic fleet edit see also list of ships below the company started with wooden paddle steamers which soon gave way to the steel screw vessels . the screw vessels were superseded by turbine steamers the first being the 1905 viking . the company then replaced the passenger only steamers with side loading car ferries the first diesel car ferry being the 1972 mona s queen v . fastcraft then became the next generation of vessels to operate for the company the first being the seacat isle of man . pre war steamers edit the company built five steamers over ten years from 1927 . they were the replacements for the various second hand steamers that the company purchased to replace its first world war losses . image ship built commissioned route tonnage notes ben my chree iv april 1927 june 1927 douglas various 2 586 gt scrapped at ghent in 1965 lady of mann i april 1929 june 1930 douglas various 3 104 gt scrapped at dalmuir in 1971 mona s queen iii april 1934 1934 douglas various 2 756 gt sunk at dunkirk in 1940 fenella december 1936 1937 douglas various 2 376 gt sunk at dunkirk in 1940 tynwald iv december 1936 1937 douglas various 2 376 gt sunk off bougie in 1942 the six sisters edit a class of vessel derived from pre war steamers fenella and tynwald affectionately known as the six sisters . these were all built by cammell laird in birkenhead and were in service between 1946 and 1982 . no two vessels were identical and all had their own albeit minor differences . the last vessel to be withdrawn was manxman in 1982 at the time it was the last vessel of its type in service in the united kingdom . despite preservation attempts the vessel was finally scrapped in 2012 . image ship built commissioned route tonnage notes king orry iv november 1945 january 1946 douglas various 2 485 gt scrapped at strood in 1979 mona s queen iv february 1946 june 1946 douglas various 2 485 gt sold for further use as fiesta scrapped at perama in 1981 tynwald v march 1947 july