Works to upgrade the King Edward VIII pier in Douglas harbour won’t now be completed until after TT.

But the successful installation of three new 100-tonne mooring bollards mean they are now fully available for tying up the Manxman.

The new moorings allow the flagship vessel to moor alongside the King Edward VIII pier in bad weather, reducing the risk of damage to the vessel and pier.

But with the mooring dolphins yet to be installed at the end of the pier, there may be occasions of the severest weather and Force 10 winds when the Manxman will still not be able to berth there, the risk of which reduces as we move into the spring and summer months.

Around 80 cubic metres of concrete were removed during the construction, which included drilling down through the quay and into the bedrock.

Around half of the rockbags have now been placed beneath the water at the foot of the quay wall as an added layer of protection from fast moving water around the vessel’s propellers and thrusters.

The installation process remains ongoing and involves the bags, which weigh up to 4 tonnes each, being placed on to a catamaran and then lifted down into the water.

Specialist divers help to guide them into place against the wall.

While this process has been taking place, planned repairs to the quay wall have been undertaken and are now close to being finished.

The overall project was due to be completed earlier this year. But the project has been delayed due to issues encountered around the installation of the two mooring dolphin piles at the end of the pier.

All six piles required to create the temporary drilling platform for the permanent dolphin piles have been successfully installed - but this process has suffered significant delays due to how uneven the bedrock is in this area.

This has required longer and more powerful specialist drilling equipment to be deployed, to ensure the temporary piles can be secured into the bedrock at a deeper level.

A spokesman for the DoI said: ‘While some disruption is unavoidable, the department and contractor are collaborating well with the Steam Packet to ensure the project can continue to move forwards while ensuring there is minimal effect on sailings and the overall passenger experience.’