Heysham Port

In 1891, the Midland Railway gave notice of its intention to develop a harbour at Heysham and appointed consulting engineers James Abernethy and his son to undertake a feasibility study of the project. The plan was for an enclosed dock accessed through a lock, this idea made no further progress.

In 1895, a much larger Heysham port plan was put forward by Messrs James Abernethy & Son, in conjunction with the Midland Railway's chief engineer. This formed the basis of the harbour which was built, although there were many changes as work progressed and the full scheme was never completed. In 1896, an enabling Act of Parliament was obtained for the construction of the harbour and the contract for construction was let in July 1897. The project cost about £3 million.[1]

The first ship to dock at Heysham was the Antrim, one of the ships that the Midland Railway had ordered for Heysham services. She came into the harbour on delivery from builders, John Brown at Clydebank on 31 May 1904. The first passenger sailing was a day trip to Douglas, Isle of Man by the Londonderry on 13 August 1904.

Heysham Port was acquired by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company in May 2001.[2]

North Quay

Ships that operate out of Heysham Port

Picture	Name	Built (Commissioned)	Route(s)	Capacity	Port of Registry	Company
	MS Ben-my-Chree [VI]	April 1998 (July 1998)	Douglas - Heysham Douglas - Birkenhead Douglas - Dublin	630 Passenger 275 Cars	Douglas	Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
	HSC Manannan	November 1998 (May 2009)	Douglas - Heysham (Summer TT and MS Ben-my-Chree Dry docking only)	800+ passengers 200 vehicles	Douglas	Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
	MS Clipper Pennant	August 2009 (October 2009)	Heysham - Warrenpoint	120 trailers	Limassol	Seatruck Ferries
	MS Seatruck Panorama	November 2008 (January 2009)	Heysham - Warrenpoint	120 trailers	Limassol	Seatruck Ferries
	MS Clipper Point	March 2008 (March 2008)	Heysham - Dublin	120 trailers	Limassol	Seatruck Ferries
	MS Stena Performer	April 2012 (April 2012)	Heysham - Belfast	151 trailers	Douglas	Stena have chartered from Seatruck Ferries
	MS Stena Hibernia	1996	Heysham - Belfast	114 trailers	Vlaardingen

The routes which Heysham port offers:

• Heysham - Dublin (Seatruck Ferries)
• Heysham - Warrenpoint (Seatruck Ferries)
• Heysham - Douglas (Isle of Man Steam Packet Co)
• Heysham - Belfast (Stena Line)

• Official website