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Stolt Jaeger currently in Latchford locks this evening on it's way up to Partington.

The upper reaches of the canal are currently closed after the new vertical lift bridge being constructed next to Barton Bridge collapsed. Luckily there are no injuries but the bridge itself is undoubtedly a write off, also the Arklow Vale is trapped now up at Eccles and by the looks of it won't be moving anytime soon.

Will this have any detrimental effect on the Manchester Ship canal cruises by Mersey ferries .

(16/05/2016 19:54)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]Will this have any detrimental effect on the Manchester Ship canal cruises by Mersey ferries .

It's likely as the canal is currently closed above Barton locks so if the cruises do continue to run then they won't be able to complete the full route up to Salford. The only option would be to unload at either Irlam or Barton locks and then move people up to Salford via coach, however I'm fairly certain that this might not be practically possible from either of these locations so there may well be cancelations. This is presuming that the aftermath isn't cleared up in the next couple of weeks. As it stands it is not looking likely it will be cleared anytime soon as the investigation is yet to commence and then on top of this the bridge deck has to be removed which itself will be a logistical nightmare, and finally the canal will have to be surveyed for any debris that's ended up in the drink and this also will have to be removed before traffic can return to normal.

So highly likely Mersey ferries will be paying people back because of this .

(17/05/2016 16:43)wirralbus Wrote: [ -> ]So highly likely Mersey ferries will be paying people back because of this .

I'd imagine so, unless they offer a later date to anyone effected.

Confirmed today that all Manchester Ship Canal cruises before the 9th of June have been cancelled. It's likely that there may yet be further cancelations, personally I wouldn't expect this to be fully sorted until the end of June.

I do wonder whether Mersey ferries maybe able to fit in extra sailings later in the season , as it is all to do with tides at the interface with the Manchester Ship Canal at Eastham.