The Steam Packet is 'extremely disappointed' the UK Government has given consent to the development of a windfarm across its shipping line.

The creation of a new windfarm at West of Duddon Sands, located 14km southwest of the Barrow-in-Furness coastline, was granted planning permission by UK authorities.

It will be a joint development between Scottish Power Renewables, DONG Energy and Eurus Energy, to produce enough green energy for more than 372,000 UK homes.

But the Steam Packet says the UK Government has given consent to the windfarm development without properly taking into account either the 'navigational concerns or the environmental costs of forcing ships to detour around the site'.

It has been estimated that the windfarm will lead to a two mile detour on Steam Packet sailings to and from Heysham.

The Steam Packet says that despite 'strenuous representations against the siting of the proposed windfarm in the long established shipping lane it appears that the potential safety and shipping concerns have simply been over-ridden.

'We do not believe that proper consideration has been given to the vital lifeline route between the Isle of Man and England.

'We have made it clear to the UK Government that the West of Duddon Sands Windfarm will increase passage times, costs of operation in terms of both fuel and crew, and will reduce port turnaround times. All of these will impact negatively both on the Steam Packet Company's schedules and the Isle of Man as well as on CO2 emissions by ships forced to spend extra time at sea.

'Most importantly, the proposed wind farm will present an additional navigational hazard to ships navigating in the east Morecambe Bay area. It will seriously restrict ships' sea room particularly in bad weather, and may also impact on the viability of sailing at all in certain types of weather.'

The Company says it will continue to work to avoid the 'incursion into the shipping lane'.

The development consent does, however, require the developer to negotiate compensation with shipping companies and there are no plans to increase charges to customers, the Steam Packet stated.

Ken Horsley, Department of Transport harbour operations manager, explained: 'The Steam Packet when it leaves Douglas and proceeds to Heysham follows a direct line track which takes them to the Lune Deep buoy, which leads them up the channel through Morecambe Bay to Heysham.

'The effect of the West of Duddon Sands windfarm would mean it would have to put what we would term a "dog leg" in the track. (The Steam Packet) would have to alter course to proceed between north Morecambe gas field and south Morecambe gas field and west of the windfarm. In my estimation it would have a detour of two miles.'

He said while two miles 'doesn't sound a lot', the issue would be the long-term costs.

'It will amount to something when you consider that there are regular daily trips to and from Heysham,' he said.

As I understand this, if it takes longer to do the trip the Co2 emissions are increased........ The Steam Packet have just doubled the fuel surcharge because of the price of fuel..........all the sailings to Liverpool are now taking nearly three hours, why? I spoke to one of the crew last week while on the trip from Liverpool and he informed me that they have 'reduced speed' which increases the sailing time and uses less fuel......so they have just increased he emissions voluntarily to save money whilst charging more. It still says two and half hour sailing time on their website as well!
GARETH

So the Steam Packet say "'We do not believe that proper consideration has been given to the vital lifeline route between the Isle of Man and England." Why should the Steam Packet be given "consideration" - are they too used to enjoying their "do as we please" status as one of the ubiquitous island monopolies? And, as has been pointed out, is it not hypocritical to say the least when the Steam Packet complain extended crossing times when they are deliberately slowing down the Viking Sea Cat "service" to conserve fuel, which the passengers are paying for anyway by way of the "fuel surcharge", extending travel times for passengers by 30 minutes in the process. Having been critical of the Steam Packet let me make a constructive suggestion. Why not change the Ben my Chree route to Liverpool, e.g. Birkenhead, which I am sure would be more convenient for both car passengers and freight transport than having to travel the additional distance to Heysham? Who knows - it might even reduce crossing times and save fuel at the same time. Of course, with the commitment of the UK government to wind energy, there are no guarantees that the offshore Liverpool win farms will not be extended in to the Mersey as well - but I guess that is the price of cheaper, guaranteed and eco friendly renewable energy.