Sea passenger figures down

There was a further decrease in the number of people travelling to the Isle of Man by sea last month.

Traffic figures for Douglas Harbour (pictured) for November show a 6.7% drop in both the number of passengers and vehicles, compared to the same period last year.

It follows falls of 3.2% and 4.8% respectively in October.

Figures for the year so far are also down, by 3.2% for passengers and 10.7% for vehicles, and fewer passengers have travelled on both the Heysham and Liverpool/Birkenhead routes than in 2007.

Director of Harbours Captain Mike Brew says November's figures are slightly disappointing and may be reflecting general market conditions.

He says it will be interesting to see if the trend continues over the next few months.