CalMac is facing a new wave of ferry "chaos" as three vessels were sidelined yesterday amidst concerns over a re-organisation and the suspension of a service.
Concerns have surfaced as the Scottish Government-controlled ferry operator continues to shuffle its deck to try and provide adequate lifeline services for the islands.
MV Clansman, which will mark the 26th anniversary of its launch on Wednesday is the latest to be crocked after a substantial amount of rope got in its bow thrusters, leading to a suspension of all services on Monday to Coll and Tiree.
Divers had been arranged to examine the ferry this morning.
Technical problems with 32-year-old MV Loch Tarbert has meant it has been out of action for 12 days and is not expected back till Thursday at the earliest.
CalMac has had to redeploy MV Loch Linnhe to provide services to Fishnish on the Isle of Mull. The ferry operator has had to bring in a passenger-only charter vessel Rathline Express to serve on the service to and from Tobermory on Mull.
Meanwhile, there has been some disquiet over a reshuffle that has had to be implemented with the continued absence of one of the biggest and oldest vessels in Scotland's lifeline ferry network, MV Caledonian Isles.
The 30-year-old MV Caledonian Isles which serves on the Arran route, one of the busiest on the Scottish coast, and is due to be replaced, has been out of action since going for an overhaul at the start of January.
The vessel is expected to be out of action until at least June 13 as it emerged it has suffered extensive rusting in the hull.
It was sidelined for over three months with further steelwork and engine difficulties this time last year with repair work then estimated at £1m. It had been due to leave the yard after an overhaul before issues with the engines, steelwork and bearings were noted by engineers.
Further steelwork problems were attributed to a further period spent in dry dock in early 2022.
It has meant that the summer-only serve from Ardrossan to Campbeltown has been scrapped for a second year.
The summer service never started last year as it became a casualty when the 38-year-old MV Hebridean Isles was out of service.
Users have been told that MV Coruisk will have to be shifted from Armadale on Skye leading to a reduced service between March 29 and April 5 and May 24 and June 3. It will operate alongside MV Isle of Mull route to and from Craignure on Mull.
Meanwhile Armadale will be reduced to a single-vessel service using 33-year-old MV Loch Fyne.
The community council for Sleat, which will be affected by the reduced services told concerned residents that ministers had confirmed that "no financial compensation or reimbursement will be made as a result of ferry disruption to communities, organisations and businesses".
A ferry user group official said: "There is no doubt that that CalMac's ageing ferries are in desperate need of emergency support before we ever see the first of the new ferries at Ferguson Marine come into being.
"Islands cannot continue to be served up this chaos on a continuing basis and to continue to refuse any kind of compensation is wrong."
The wildly delayed and over-budget ferries Glen Sannox and sister ship Glen Rosa, were due online in the first half of 2018, with both now due to serve Arran, but are at least six years late, with costs expected to be quadruple the original £97m contract.
Glen Rosa was meant to be delivered to CalMac in August 2018, but that is currently scheduled for May 2025.
Glen Sannox, was launched by Nicola Sturgeon nearly seven years ago and the last analysis estimated that it was not expected to be handed over till the end of May at the earliest.
Meanwhile a plan to change ferry arrangements affecting Barra, North Uist and Harris ferry arrangements are now no longer deemed feasible by Calmac because of berthing difficulties.
There had been concern about a move to remove MV Isle of Lewis from Barra and install her on the Skye triangle routes to North Uist and Harris, the smaller and reduced powered MV Isle of Arran was pencilled-in to take over the route to Castlebay on Barra.
In turn, that would have released MV Hebrides to take up the role of main vessel on the link to and from Arran link while MV Caledonian Isles was sidelined.
But berthing trials involving MV Isle of Lewis at Uig on Skye, Tarbert on Harris and Lochmaddy on North Uist were "not successful".
The ferry operator warned of disruption across the Clyde and Hebrides network as a result of steelwork issues with the Caledonian Isles due to be replaced by one of the two wildly over budget and delayed ferries.
The Campbeltown crossing has been the biggest casualty since there was a rethink in prioritisation after South Uist became worst hit by the ferry reshuffles.
It drew the short straw because it is felt according to the way CalMac runs its lifeline service disruption management that the least number of people will be affected if their allocated vessel, MV Lord of the Isles, is withdrawn to help out elsewhere.
The catalyst for action came when an estimated 500 residents, 200 cars, 40 vans and 20 lorries converged on Lochboisdale – the port which links South Uist to the mainland – on June 4 last year to protest about their treatment.
A CalMac spokeswoman said: “Due to a foreign object being picked up in the vessel’s bow thrusters, divers are currently attending the vessel. Due to the expected duration of the works required, this service has been cancelled. Service is expected to resume as timetabled on Tuesday 26 March.”
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