The Steam Packet Company vessel Ben-my-Chree has had a reliability record of more than 97% over the last year.

She completed 1,321 sailings during 2018 and in January 2019, travelling some 88,500 miles with a technical reliability record of 97.17%.

Her main engines clocked up more than 10,800 running hours.

Ben-my-Chree operates services throughout the year, including daily sailings to Heysham, seasonal crossings to Ireland and weekend services to Birkenhead during the winter months.

Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward said: ’Once again Ben-my-Chree has served the island well and had a great reliability record during 2018, with very few cancellations due to technical issues.

’This highlights her value to the island and underlines the significant investment we have made to retain the vessel.’

Last April, she underwent a scheduled biennial overhaul when £1.6 million was spent on various areas above and below deck, as well as the testing of equipment and safety checks.

In July, the Ben suffered an ’unprecedented’ turbo charger failure on one of its engines as the ship was manoeuvring into Douglas harbour one Saturday. The explosion caused shrapnel and oil to fly across the engine room and resulted in a small fire which was immediately extinguished by the crew.Round-the-clock repairs allowed the Ben to return to service two days later.

During the 2017 season, the Ben operated 1,375 sailings and had a 99.49% technical reliability record, with only seven trips cancelled during the year. Overall reliability dropped to 97.01%, once weather cancellations were taken into account.