More than half the people working in the island for a global ship management group face an uncertain future after they were told their jobs are no longer needed here.

Staff at V. Ships at Braddan were informed on Wednesday morning.

A totalof 36 people work for the company in the island and the jobs of 20 have been hit by the announcement.

Crew management and related support services are to be transferred to elsewhere in the V. Group.

A spokeswoman for the V. Group told Business News: ’As part of V. Group’s longer-term strategy we regularly conduct reviews of our global operations to ensure they meet the needs of our clients.

’As a result of our most recent review we spoke with employees at 10am this morning (Wednesday) to update them that following consultation we will be transferring our crew management and related support services to other V.Group centres of expertise.

’Our priority now is to support those impacted by this decision, which includes exploring alternative employment opportunities within V. Group.’

She added: ’The decision to transfer crew management and relates support services impacts 20 people and our priority is to support them, which includes exploring alternative opportunities within V.Group.’

The spokeswoman said: ’There are a number of services being retained [in the Isle of Man] which includes Flag State Administration.’