Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson has confirmed that the final cost of the Manxman to date is £80 million.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Tynwald sitting, Dr Allinson confirmed that the cost of delivery to the island was £78 million, but that an extra £2 million has since been spent to get the boat into service.

Dr Allinson said: ‘This extra £2 million of costs relate to trials, wages, fuel, pilots and tugs.

‘It also includes training for the marine evacuation system, as well as crockery, cutlery, bedding and other equipment require for passengers onboard.’

The topic of currency hedging was also brought up during the sitting due to construction on the flagship vessel being paid for in US dollars.

Dr Allinson explained: ‘The initial contract with the builder at the dockyard in South Korea was $90.7 million, and this was entirely for shipyard costs. It is quite right that currency hedging was employed to deal with that cost.’

It was also confirmed that the current debt due for the Manxman stands at £77.2 million, a decrease from the figure of £78.5 million in December 2022. The Steam Packet also repaid £5.2 million of loans and £2.6 million of interest during 2023. Discussing warranty periods on the vessel, Dr Allinson said: ‘There is an 18 month warranty on the hull machinery and 12 months warranty on everything else. The Steam Packet have also agreed extended warranties on other items, such as a five year warranty on paint and an additional six months on the main generators.’

Engineers from South Korea are currently on board the Manxman to look into a ‘vibration problem’, with the Steam Packet warning passengers online that they may see ‘vibration monitoring equipment’ on the vessel during journeys this week.

When asked how issues like this are being paid for, Dr Allinson said: ‘In terms of some of the snagging problems that would be expected to be encountered with any new vessel, as far as I’m aware this is all covered in the initial warranty. Because of this, I don’t expect any extra costs being passed onto the balance book of the Steam Packet at this time.’