A SEVENTH CalMac lifeline ferry has been forced out of action since the weekend in a wave of faults and suspensions to state-controlled services.
It comes as issues with MV Lord of the Isles which has seen services to South Uist suspended since the weekend - have led to it being withdrawn completely till Friday at least.
On Monday services to and from Barra, South Uist, Mull, Islay and Dunoon were disrupted with MV Isle of Lewis, MV Lord of the Isles, MV Finlaggan, MV Loch Linnhe and Argyll Flyer all taken out of action after a series of problems from Sunday night.
On Tuesday it emerged that the services cancellations have spread to Islay since caused by issues with MV Hebridean Isles' bilge system. The vessel had been brought in on Monday morning to support services in Uist after other vessel failures. The issues were fixed on Wednesday.
While MV Clansman was re-routed in to help Barra and Mull sailings in wake of the latest wave, that led to services to Coll, Tiree being suspended on Tuesday. Also suspended were services to Colonsay and Islay.
On Wednesday it was the turn of MV Coruisk. A problem with the 19-year-old vessel's capstan meant a raft of sailings were cancelled on the Mallaig to Armadale on Skye crossing on Wednesday. Twelve more sailings were cancelled for Thursday.
And issues with the MV Lord of the Isles steelwork which emerged at the weekend were unable to be fixed and it has now been withdrawn for repairs to be carried out in dry dock at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead.
Some of the ferries that were out of action over the past few days: MV Lord of the Isles (main pic) and from top: MV Isle of Lewis, MV Loch Linnhe, MV Finlaggan and Argyll Flyer
Services to and from South Uist remained suspended on Wednesday and will continued to be out of action on Thursday and Friday.
CalMac said: "We are currently looking at alternative options for travel.
"Customers impacted by these cancellations will be contacted to discuss alternative sailings..."
They said passengers who are able to do so can travel by foot to use the services to Lochmaddy on North Uist - 42 miles away from South Uist's Lochboisdale port. "Our teams will do everything they can to assist, however depending on demand and availability transport connections cannot be guaranteed.
"Cancelling sailings is a decision we do not take lightly, and we understand the impact it has on our customers and the communities we serve. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and our team is working hard to minimise the impact to our customers. "
Alasdair Allan, the SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar has previously raised his frustration and said he was meeting transport minister Jenny Gilruth to discuss the ongoing issues.
Lochboisdale, the port which links South Uist to the mainland had been out of action to ferries between September 24 and October 8 to allow for repairs to the linkspan used by the ferry.
South Uist was told that it while losing services and that extra services would operate to Lochmaddy.
A routine annual inspection by specialist engineers and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which owns the ferry terminal, had revealed a number of lifting ropes on the linkspan which need to be replaced at the earliest opportunity. Last year’s inspections showed no issues.
Last week it emerged that that alternative route for people to Lochmaddy was being hit with cancellations by further concerns over safety due to pier works and adverse weather.
CalMac had continued to warn users that the works associated with a £15.3m pier upgrade which restrict vessel movement in the harbour area can be cancelled at short notice.
It told users to expect further disruption with an amended timetable on Tuesday.
In April, George Leslie Ltd began replacing the existing infrastructure at the west coast ferry terminal to cater for a new fleet of vessels.
In August, Uist islanders complained that shops had to ration essential items amid widespread ferry cancellations.
It came after the loss of MV Hebrides, one of CalMac’s oldest ferries, which was taken out of service on Tuesday for a third time in a matter of weeks because of an issue with its CO2 firefighting system - which is a safety issue.
The state-owned ferry operator CalMac is having to handle an ageing ferry fleet with new vessels Glen Sannox and Hull 802 still languishing in Port Glasgow as the costs of their construction have soared from the original £97m contract to at least £250m and delivery is over five years late.
Seventeen of CalMac's 35 working ferries deployed across Scotland are now over 25 years old.
The oldest in the CalMac fleet is the Isle of Cumbrae which is 46-years old.
Meanwhile the much delayed Glen Sannox and as-yet-unnamed Hull 802 are due to be delivered to serve island communities in 2023 and early 2024 at a potential cost of nearly £350m – over three-and-a-half times the initial £97 million contract.
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