The planning application for the new ferry terminal at Liverpool’s Princes Half-Tide Dock suggests a change has been made to plans for a future Steam Packet vessel.

The application was submitted by the Department of Infrastructure with Liverpool City Council.

The plans state that the Steam Packet intends to introduce a new roll-on, roll-off passenger (ro-pax) vessel, similar to those operated by ferry company Stena Line, rather than the much larger ’Seatruck Heysham Max’, which was detailed in the DoI’s harbour strategy and its supporting technical report earlier this year.

The application says: ’The new vessel would be the ropax and would replace the Seatruck vessel referenced in stage 1 (of the application). The ro-pax vessel would be approximately 136.5m long, would have capacity for up to 800 passengers, and would accommodate approximately 1,400 vehicle lane metres.

’It is understood that the new ro-pax vessel is a future concept only and has not been designed or built yet at this stage.

’It is envisaged that this vessel may be a replacement for the Ben-my-Chree in the future but there are no current plans for the use of any larger vessels.’

The previously-considered vessel was referred to as a ’Seatruck Heysham Max’, so-called as the dimensions of 142m long and 25m wide is the maximum-sized vessel that could pass in and out of Heysham port. It would have been larger than the Ben-my-Chree, by about 17m in length and 1.5m in width.

While the new vessel outlined in these plans would be 5.5m shorter than a Seatruck Heysham Max vessel, it will still be 11.3m longer than the 125m Ben-my-Chree and have about an extra 160m of freight lane space available and carry over 100 extra passengers.

Further details revealed in the plans include that the new port would be able to accommodate 10 freight lorries at once. However, it states ’it is anticipated to be used on a very minimal basis’.

The plans go on to say that a survey on the impact of freight going through Liverpool was not needed as it was likely to be used only during winter weekends, or in a ’worst-case scenario’.

The Steam Packet is committed to continued usage of Heysham for most of its freight business.

Foot passengers will board and disembark the Manannan and the proposed new ro-pax ferry via a covered walkway. However, due to the location of the doors on the Ben-my-Chree, a separate gantry structure would need to be provided for passenger access.

There will also be eight lanes for cars waiting to board the ferries, including a lane dedicated to coaches and buses.

There are restrictions, however, in the size of vessels that can be used in Douglas harbour and plans for new vessels will have to account for those limitations.

The government has previously announced plans to buy the land on a long-term lease from the Peel Group for £3.5m with a total budget for the dock due to be about £30m.

While the new terminal is being built, it is hoped the Steam Packet will be able to continue using the Pier Head landing stage it currently occupies.

However, a DoI spokesman previously told the Manx Independent: ’The contract to secure the site has provisions for the assistance of Peel in the continued operation of the existing landing stage, but there cannot be an absolute guarantee because the structure is life expired and may not be safe for continued operations.’

The Steam Packet declined to comment on any new boats and plans for the new dock when we approached it.