Trustees of cruise ship MV Balmoral have sent out a desperate plea for donations to keep the vessel operating.

A letter to supporters explained the current situation regarding the vessel: ’We need to raise £450,000 and have no more than eight weeks in which to secure Balmoral’s future for a further season. After that time it could be impossible to book harbours, connections and her annual survey.

’We need funds to settle outstanding accounts from the 2017 season, pay for routine maintenance and to dry-dock and prepare the ship for 2018. This seems a huge amount. It is, but the response to appeals in the past have been superb.’

At the beginning of this season bookings were up almost 40% on 2016 but the vessel sailed into trouble through a series of what the trustees’ letter described as ’unconnected problems [that] were heart-breaking for passengers, crew and staff’.

These included engine and gearbox problems, a rope becoming entangled in a propellor and a string of cancelled sailings due to bad weather.

Then operators White Funnel were forced to cancel sailings of the MV Balmoral to the Isle of Man following an announcement by the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

’It is undertood the issue concerned the lack of safety at sea certification for international crossings and came despite the fact that Balmoral has been a regular visitor to the island for three decades and would have been allowed to go to Belfast. The letter went on: ’This disappointed our passengers and supporters and cost us a huge amount of money in advertising, ticket refunds and lost revenue, and with no recompense or chance of making up the deficit.’

Following this came the final blow when the vessel ran into the worst late summer weather for years, preventing most of the additional sailings planned to recover some of the lost revenue.

The trustees’ letter concluded: ’Sadly economic facts can’t be avoided.

’In 2017 Balmoral managed only 55 of her 116 scheduled sailings, fractionally under half... we have a very large deficit and serious doubts about continuing coastal excursions without financial support - and we need that support urgently.’