IT was decided in April that a former passenger ferry which served the Island for thirty years with the Steam Packet Company would be scrapped.

The Manxman launched in 1955 and sailed between the Isle of Man, the UK, and Ireland until it was withdrawn from service in 1982.

From 1997 the boat was kept in dry dock at a shipyard in Sunderland however a decision was made to scrap it after it was found that the boat was riddled with asbestos.

Enthusiasts had mounted campaigns to save the vessel but these did not come to fruition after the shipyard said it no longer had room for the boat.

Captain Bernie Quirk, a former master of the Manxman, said: "It has been sad to see what happened to her over the years since the Steam Packet sold her in 1982. She is the last of that class of boat and I was proud to be on her at the time."

In its time the Manxman also used to do charter trips to places including Llandudno and Fleetwood.