Manx ferry plans include talks with hauliers
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THE ISLE of Man Steam Packer Company will provide two return sailings each weekday between Heysham and Douglas during the winter period.
The company last week reaffirmed its decision to maintain Heysham-Douglas as the principal all-the-year-round service for freight and passengers.
But the company has decided to sell the flagship Moria's Isle, bought in Malta earlier this year and refurbished on the Clyde, because it has proved unsuitable for the Isle of Man service.
It is to be replaced by the .Autrim Princess from early October and it will operate the route in tandem with the Manx Viking, which will be retained for at least another year.
Other plans announced by the company included: • Closure of the summer service to Ardrossan, with the main Scottish service operating into the Sealink port or Stranraer because of its superior railhead and other • Increased frequency of the service to Belfast and Dublin.
Jim Sherwood, a director of the Steam Packet Company, said the company had opened negotiations with the haulage firms which proposed to operate a new freight service between the Isle of Man and Liverpool and he was hopeful that an understanding could be reached.