More than two thirds of the £710,000 operating costs of the Isle of Man’s Liverpool ferry terminal go towards riverside maintenance and dredging, it’s been confirmed.

Questions were raised in Tynwald last week about how the £70m-plus facility is financed, and how much taxpayers may continue to shoulder amid slow-moving lease negotiations.

Department of Infrastructure (DoI) member Lawrie Hooper confirmed that the annual cost of the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool is currently estimated at £710,575 per year.

Now his department has given a breakdown of that cost.

The predicted annual costs to the DoI comprise service charges of £19,232, a surface water charge of £20,717, a Duchy lease of £66,700 to Peel Ports, registration of an overseas entity £721, Isle of Man officer time £10,000 and a 20% contingency of £93,205.

But the biggest element by far is the £500,000 spent on maintenance. This includes dredging and riverside maintenance.

The surface water discharge licence is the charge from Peel Ports for allowing all the groundwater coming from the development to pass from the terminal’s gullies and interceptor tanks down into the company’s main disposal pipe which runs across the site

And the service charge is for the DoI’s annual contribution to the maintenance costs of those common areas around the site which Peel Ports incurs.

The cost of staffing, lighting and insurance are the responsibility of the Steam Packet.

Mr Hooper told Tynwald that the £710,575 figure included an allowance of officer time and a contingency amount to ensure that the department has sufficient funds to allow for any unforeseen circumstances, and to ensure the facility always remains available.

The terminal at Prince’s Half-Tide dock opened to passengers on June 25 last year but the full price of the project has still yet to be made public.

In July last year, it was confirmed that the Steam Packet was paying more than £14,000 a month - working out at more than £170,000 a year - to use the new Liverpool Ferry Terminal until a lease agreement is put in place.

The monthly sum of £14,272 was to be paid for six months under a licence agreement pending a lease being agreed between the Steam Packet and the DoI setting an appropriate rent for the facility.

It included a peppercorn rent of £1 but did not include rates because at that time they were still being evaluated by Liverpool City Council.

In comparison, it cost the Steam Packet £737,000 a year to use the previous Pier Head landing stage, or £580,000 before rates - equating to £48,333 per month.

In Tynwald last week, Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas MHK queried why negotiations for a long-term lease with the Steam Packet remain unresolved.

Mr Hooper replied: ‘Everyone is quite keen to get these negotiations concluded as soon as practical, but I really don't know how long that will take.’