Dock passenger traffic is up on last November

Captain Michael Brown, director of harbours, said the rise was due to the large capacity of the Superseacat Two.

November's port figures show a 3.1% increase on last year with 21,108 people passing through the port.

Car and motorbike traffic was also up by 5.8% on last November with 7,331 vehicles coming through Douglas Harbour in the past month.

But the figures also show a dip in traffic to Liverpool by 4% with numbers falling from 6,497 to 6,232.

'Very satisfied'

However on the plus side passenger traffic from Heysham increased by 3% from 13,344 to 13,722.

"The November passenger figures are good and I am very satisfied with the overall growth of 5.8% in vehicle traffic," said Cpt Brown.

"This sector has increased for the fifth consecutive month and is showing the benefit of the extra vehicle capacity on Superseacat Two."

The Superseacat Two, with its increased vehicle capacity, was introduced this year.