Strong winds have led to the cancellation of evening and overnight ferry services between the Isle of Man and Lancashire. The 19:45 crossing of flagship passenger vessel the Manxman to Heysham and its 02:15 return have both been scrapped. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company said the cancellation was due to “forecast strong winds” in the Lancashire port. The Manxman was due to set off from Douglas at around 7.45pm this evening, arriving at a planned 11.30pm. The return sailing was due to set off from the UK at 2.15am on Friday and land in Douglas at 6am. Both of those sailings have now been cancelled due to strong winds forecast in Heysham overnight. The company says passengers can amend their bookings free of charge through their online account, or alternatively contact the reservations team on 01624 661 661 or 08722 992 992. The company’s managing director, Brian Thomson, insists the size of the vessel won't mean incidents like this happen more often. Manx Radio which reported the story, also has an audio clip of the M.D. about the incident and the minor damage done to the Manxman, which has undergone temporary repairs. This will be followed by dry-docking in a few weeks time to finalise the repair. The vessel previously suffered damage during stormy conditions when entering the Heysham facility on 21 August. Temporary repairs were made to the vessel at the time, but its impact with the linkspan led to the Steam Packet having to use a different berth for a time, which led to passenger delays. Following the recent damage in Heysham caused at the usual berth used by the Isle of Man Steam Packet, it remains unclear when operations will return to normal. The damage at one of the three Lancashire port linkspans comes after last month’s incident involving the ferry operator’s flagship, Manxman. The disruption of routine operations at the Irish Sea port has led to coaches being used to transport foot passengers to and from the terminal, which has resulted in some delays. An easyJet flight from Gatwick to the island has also been cancelled due to forecasted bad weather. easyJet's planned 6.05pm Thursday flight from London Gatwick to the Isle of Man has also been scrapped. That flight was due to land at 7.30pm. The airline's planned outbound flight from Ronaldsway to Gatwick will also not go ahead. The next crossing to Heysham is scheduled for Friday morning at 8:45am (6 September).