The flagship of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, she primarily operated on the Douglas to Heysham route until being replaced by MV Manxman in late 2023.

Costing around £24 million, she was built by van der Giessen de Noord of the Netherlands and launched on 4 April 1998.

On 26 March 2010, Ben-my-Chree experienced unintended movement while berthed at Heysham Port, resulting in a walkway collapse, trapping eight people in the gangway compartment of the shore access structure; they were assisted in leaving by the fire service.

[6] On the evening of 1 May 2013 when arriving in Douglas Harbour from Heysham, Ben-my-Chree struck part of the King Edward Pier linkspan.

In the collision part of the ship was slightly damaged, meaning the evening departure to Heysham was delayed by two hours, with the Manannan arriving from Liverpool as replacement.

[7] In December 2011, the Ben-my-Chree suffered a number of cancelled sailings due to high winds and a problem with a bow thruster that had been damaged in May that year.

Arrangements to dry dock the ship in June and then in September had to be cancelled after the manufacturers, Wartsilla, failed to complete the necessary repairs.

On 12 February 2017, the vessel made contact with the pier at Douglas whilst attempting to moor in high winds on arrival from Birkenhead.

The Royal New Zealand Navy multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury, based on Ben-my-Chree's design, entered service in 2007.

In October 2024, it was reported that Ben-my-Chree would conduct berthing trials at Troon and Brodick for a potential charter to Caledonian MacBrayne, due to ongoing disruption caused by fleet maintenance.

[20] In March 2013, the chairman of local group TravelWatch, Brendan O’Friel, said "The Ben is currently mid-way through her life and she is starting now to develop problems of one sort or another.

"[21] In Issue 17 of the company newsletter, Steam Packet Times, Chief Executive Mark Woodward explained that "Now that the refinancing has been completed we have begun the process of assessing the longer term - it is clear that the most significant investment in the coming years will be replacement vessels for Ben-my-Chree and Manannan.