People hoping to travel off the Island by boat this weekend could be disappointed.

The Ben-my-Chree will enter dry dock later today for vital maintenance work.

The vessel will be out of service until Tuesday morning, and it was anticipated the Viking would operate the daytime sailings on the Heysham route from this morning until Monday.

However, it's likely the weather will disrupt those plans, as Beth Espey reports (text, below, from attached audio file):

A deteriorating weather forecast suggests the weekend sailings may be cancelled.

A statement on the Steam Packet's website last night said there was a severe weather warning in operation and disruption was likely to services tomorrow, that's January 10.

The Packet says the weather system is being closely monitored and an update on the sailings will be issued by ten o'clock this morning.

However, it does believe there's a strong likelihood that sailings on Sunday will be cancelled.

It was announced earlier this week that the Liverpool Birkenhead sailings this weekend were being diverted to Heysham, as the Viking can't use the 12 Quays facility at Birkenhead.

A freighter has been chartered to cover the freight service, and it's understood those sailings will continue as normal.

(Picture: The Ben-my-Chree at Douglas).