SCOTLAND'S biggest publicly run ferry is due back in service tonight - after nearly seven weeks of repairs.
MV Loch Seaforth was taken off the Ullapool-Stornoway route by state ferry operator CalMac in mid-April to be taken into dry dock for "major" engine repairs.
It led to six delays in getting the vessel back in service as repairs continued.
Now Scottish Government-funded CalMac CalMac say sea trials on the MV Loch Seaforth have been successful and the vessel will return to service this evening as planned.
Following major repairs, the vessel left the James Watt dock in Greenock on Friday and completed 50 hours of sea trials before arriving in Stornoway yesterday.
Further tests carried out on Monday were also successful.
The publicly funded firm had initially said the eight-year-old vessel would be out of action until "at least the end of April" at the earliest but has since kept putting that date back.
As the islands started to open up to visitors with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, the return of the vessel has been pushed back yet again to May 31 at the earliest.
The Herald revealed how the failure of Loch Seaforth resulted in cuts to other services across the ferry network as vessels relied on with other routes were shifted around to accommodate.
Campaigners had described the situation as a "national scandal" and that those responsible should already have lost their jobs for the state of Scotland's ferries.
The 38-year-old MV Isle of Arran - which normally runs on the Ardrossan to Arran route - had to be taken off freight service duties on the Ullapool-Stornoway crossing because of stabiliser problems, resulting in a shutdown on services for over three days, has been operating on the "more sheltered" Islay run.
There was criticism when it emerged that as Isle of Arran only had space for four lorries.
According to the Arran Recovery Group, the shifting of the MV Isle of Arran for the start of the summer tourist season would cost the island more than £500,000 in lost business.
CalMac said Loch Seaforth's return means that Castlebay-Oban will recommence on Wednesday 2 June with the MV Isle of Lewis Islay-Kennacraig two-vessel service on the same day.
The MV Hebridean Isles will return to this service and will also operate the Colonsay service as timetabled MV Isle of Arran will return from the Islay service on Wednesday 2 June.
The Brodick-Ardrossan two vessel service will resume on Thursday 3 June.
And the Campbeltown summer season will finally start on Thursday 3 June, while the MV Isle of Arran Lochboisdale-Mallaig and Mallaig-Armadale will recommence on Wednesday 2 June with the MV Lord of the Isles.
Robert Morrison, Operations Director of CalMac, said: “We recognise that this has been an extremely challenging time for customers and staff and again apologise for the disruptions over the past few weeks.
“We are looking forward to getting back to operating the normal summer timetable service and to welcoming passengers onto our ferries.”
For additional information, visit: www.calmac.co.uk www.facebook.com/calmacferr
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel