The managing director of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has warned that abusive passengers will not be tolerated after staff were allegedly threatened by a customer.

Brian Thomson said the company had a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to abuse of its employees, as the Steam Packet continues to deal with disruption caused by the Manxman being out of service.

He said staff had faced verbal abuse from frustrated passengers and revealed a recent incident involving a local man returning to the island.

Mr Thomson said the man had threatened a member of staff with a bottle, describing the incident as ‘unbelievable’.

‘These are people just coming to their work, trying to help the customer and being treated like that,’ he said.

‘It’s just unbelievable in this day and age that somebody would think that’s behaviour that you can get away with.’

He said the company would take action against people who abused its employees.

‘We’ve got a zero tolerance on abuse,’ Mr Thomson said.

‘If somebody wants to raise their voice, swear, assault or threaten the staff, they just won’t be travelling either that day or ever.’

He added: ‘We are under no obligation to take abusive people on the ship.’

The comments come as the Steam Packet continues to operate with its flagship vessel Manxman out of service until late November.

Mr Thomson acknowledged that passengers were understandably frustrated when their travel plans were disrupted, but said directing that anger at frontline staff would not resolve the situation.

He said he had experienced similar frustrations himself after an EasyJet flight to the island was cancelled, but said he understood that abusing staff would not change the outcome.

‘I think there’s a growing sense that people can say and do what they like,’ he said.

‘But it’s just about respect, isn’t it?’

The Steam Packet has repeatedly apologised to passengers affected by the Manxman’s prolonged outage and said staff are continuing to work to help customers make alternative arrangements.