CalMac ferry crisis: Colonsay residents say community 'dying'

The disruption, caused by delays to new CalMac vessels and annual maintenance of the existing fleet, is decimating tourism and compromising healthcare, they say.

Islanders are largely dependent on the ferries for medical treatment, with only the most serious cases taken to hospital by helicopter and there are three for the whole of Scotland.

Last week, three out of seven daily sailings to Oban were cancelled, where most attend hospital appointments. Today's service is not running due to a "technical issue". 

READ MORE: Fears CalMac disruption will hit festival on Scotland's 'sunshine island'

Colonsay GP, Dr Simon Willetts said it was very common for patients to spend days on the mainland because they can't return home.

The record, he says, was a nine-day stay for a 15 minute appointment in Glasgow. Patients incur accommodation costs that are not always easy to recoup, he says.

"The last medical evacuation was a 74-year-old with a dislocated shoulder requiring joint replacement.  It took 30 hours to [get her] to the local hospital," he said.

"The weather was adverse, we had lost a boat the day she fell.

"We do have an airstrip but the runway is too short to take our Twin Otters, which are the air ambulances. It's really not appropriate to shift people by scheduled flights - the aircraft is not big enough.

"Oban is a great wee hospital, it punches above its weight - we just need to get people there."

He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to provide routine medical services like blood tests.

READ MORE: Property hunters offered 'once in a generation' chance to live on remote Scottish isle

"There is now only one boat each week that can get medical samples to the lab in Oban inside ordinary working hours."

Dr Willets, who has lived on the island for three years, said the disruption was resulting in people leaving the island that is known as the 'jewel of the Hebrides'.

"Even as an incomer it seems clear that the island is losing heart," he said.

"Our community is dying – people are moving away, their young folk can’t visit them.

"The island is locked into a six-month economy and completely tourist dependent for anyone not working in agriculture.

"We all understand we are a small fish but we are at the sharp end of incompetence that happened decades ago."

Islanders say Colonsay has had practically no day trippers this year because of the loss of a twice-weekly service that is a key tourism driver.

The service comes from Kennacraig, on the Kintyre peninsula, to Islay then onwards to Colonsay and to Oban and then returns to the island but is currently only operating to and from Kennacraig.

"There used to be days when there would be 150-200 people coming off that boat," says David Hobhouse, chairman of the island's Lifeline Transport Group.

"People can come from Islay or indeed the mainland, spend five or six hours in Colonsay then get away again. That was useful for day trippers but also for businesses.

"Every interruption to our service has consequences that those in Edinburgh can not imagine.

READ MORE: Scrapping CalMac and CMAL a 'non starter' if SNP wants to be in EU

"In many ways we are getting immune to it. We almost don't expect anything else," he said.

CalMac said in response that it is working hard to get the vessels back into service to resume the normal timetable.

Mr Hobhouse, who owns Balnahard Farm, says many on the island are of the belief that services are cancelled to "sustain the ferry network elsewhere on the west coast".

"As we are relatively few on Colonsay, there are less complaints when our ferry is cancelled and less compensation to pay," he said.

"It is not acceptable to remove that once-a-day sailing in order to supplement other island communities who have multiple sailings a day and alternative transport such as regular air services or bridge links."

Argyll and Bute Council recently announced it has secured a new contract with Hebridean Airways (Airtask) that includes additional Saturday flights on Colonsay throughout the summer.

However, Mr Hobhouse says the air service "does not get the Transport Scotland support that the likes of Tiree and Barra gets".

He said: "For a few years we had two flight days a week, but this is now reduced to Thursdays only."

He said the island was promised a dedicated vessel in the 2013-2022 plan with a six-day service in winter and seven in summer. A plan he recognises was "unrealistic" but nevertheless disappointing when it did not come to fruition.

"If this was a private company, it would have stopped trading years ago," he said.

"When will Scottish Government, and CalMac genuinely sit down with the communities that they are nominally serving and listen to the (free) advice from the very experienced end-users."

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "Since May 2021, we have bought and deployed an additional vessel in MV Loch Frisa, chartered the MV Arrow and MV Alfred, commissioned two new vessels for Islay, progressed investment in essential harbour infrastructure, and now we are delivering a further two new Islay-class vessels.”