A Royal Navy ship will be in Manx waters during the Queenie Festival.
HMS Severn will be coming into Baie ny Carrickey from June 27 to 29 and the crew will be taking part in the festival in Port St Mary, which celebrates the island’s fishing heritage and the queen scallop or ‘Queenie’ in particular.
The ship is in the Royal Navy’s fishery protection squadron. HMS Severn spends up to 300 days per year at sea safeguarding the fishery area around the British Isles.
Using Port St Mary as the basis of operations for the weekend, representatives of the ship are also hoping to take part in the island’s Armed Forces Day on the Sunday (June 29).
Lt Commander Tim Berry, commanding officer of HMS Severn, said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be taking part in this celebration of the sea; having very close links with both the Manx fishing industry and this diverse and beautiful island steeped in maritime history, it will be an interesting and fun time for my sailors to enjoy some of your finest “queenies”, washed down with a pint of local ale.’
The Manx government’s ‘armed forces champion’ and one of Rushen’s MHKs, Juan Watterson, said: ‘It will be great to cement Port St Mary’s connection with the Royal Navy, as it has been some years since a Royal Navy vessel has been able to join in a festival in the port.’