Islanders have claimed victory in a two-year fight over cuts to services in the Outer Hebrides which they say cost communities over £10m last year.
In an unheralded move, the Scottish Government-controlled ferry operator CalMac has carried out what it felt is a u-turn on a "disastrous" decision to slash the capacity of the 23-year-old ferry that serves on two routes across the Little Minch to Harris and Uist.
But the change may be shortlived as the ferry operator has indicated the move is only temporary to provide extra space for passengers due to recent issues with breakdowns and delayed annual maintenance checks.
The roots of the row came two years ago when CalMac came under fire for resisting reinstating full lifeline ferry services to timetable on the Western Isles in the summer at a cost of £816,000.
Concerns surfaced as CalMac cut the capacity of MV Hebrides, which normally carries 612 passengers and 90 cars, by 20%.
The cuts involved removing the use of the ferry's mechanical mezzanine deck.
MV Hebrides was due to be replaced by one of two long delayed ferries still being completed at the nationalised Ferguson Marine shipyard in Inverclyde.
READ MORE: CalMac chief rejects change in wake of protests over island ferry cuts
CalMac and the Scottish Government have come under increasing pressure to ensure the lifeline ferry services to North Uist and Harris were maintained at a level committed to in the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract that ministers awarded to CalMac.
Community group Harris Development Ltd warned ministers that if replacement ferries were not available till 2026, it could cost communities around £33m in total.
HDL chairman Kenny MacLeod said that CalMac data shows that there were 10,000 fewer vehicles able to travel last summer than in 2019.
In welcoming the change of mind, Mr MacLeod appealed to CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond to listen to the voices of island communities.
He said the cut from last year had a "devastating effect on our communities and economies".
But CalMac say their position on the use of the decks has not changed - indicating that the current use is temporary because of overbooking and to provide extra capacity due to recent disruption.
Mr MacLeod said in a letter to the executive: "As well as bringing fewer visitors to the area it also made it far harder for islanders to get bookings to travel off island. Not to mention a significant reduction in your own income during what is the busiest time of the year for you.
"It was clear from our submission last November that your decision had caused huge damage to our communities and economies.
"Making our case even stronger was the fact that neither CalMac nor Transport Scotland made any comments or challenged our submission (probably because it hit home and showed how ill thought was the decision)."
Due to Covid concerns CalMac first removed the mezzanine deck earlier in 2021 which councillors complained caused "major capacity constraints" on the routes across the Little Minch even in times when travel demand was suppressed by lockdown restrictions.
But CalMac said that deploying the mezzanine decks on all sailings during the summer timetable while maintaining the current service frequency would come at the "significant additional cost" of around £816,000.
Mr MacLeod said: "CalMac has been serving the islands for many years and has always sought to provide the best service to support our communities. It was therefore a huge surprise when you decided to artificially reduce the available capacity of the vessel on the majority of sailings, for no reason other than the possible reduction in profitability of CalMac.
"It was so ludicrous that any operator would decide to reduce how much income it could generate at the busiest time of the year. The smokescreen of “crew rest hours” has been shown to be just that.
"An efficient and regular ferry service is essential to those of us living on the islands and it is important that any vessel provided is used to its maximum capacity to meet the clear demands, especially over the summer months. We had argued this, and pointed out the damage the decision would cause. Yet you went ahead and imposed the limitations anyway. Your own figures have proven our fears to be well founded.
READ MORE: Ferguson Marine: ScotGov won't pull plug on ferries despite new farce
"It is therefore heartening that you have now recognised this as well and have reversed that decision. The demand has always been there (contrary to suggestions from yourselves that the reason for reducing available capacity was a lack of demand) and the increase in traffic using the service since you re-instated the use of the mezzanine deck has proved this.
"Despite no public announcement, the ferry is regularly running at full capacity, including the mezzanine deck on the majority of sailings. We are hearing many comments from within the community about this and are hoping that this will result in a recovery of some of the lost income from last year.
"As a community group we are more than happy to work with you to ensure the best service for those living on Harris and Uist. But that means that you speak to us and take account of our views. Together we can have a much better service for the people of Harris and Uist."
A CalMac consultation document, that was forwarded to the Western Isles council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and was not immediately publicly available, explained the reasoning for the proposed cuts.
It stated that the Uig-Tarbert and Uig-Lochmaddy routes had seen significant growths in traffic demands in recent years but that has resulted in recurrent delays to timetable, "seriously impacting crew hours of rest" and led to cancellations to services to ensure staff are provided "compensatory rest".
It said: "These delays and cancellations have had a serious detrimental effect on the local community and the overall customer experience. This is resulting in a service on which customers are unable to rely. On this basis, the original 2019 timetable is no longer sustainable, and a change is needed to ensure a quality, reliable service is provided."
The ferry operator said it reviewed previous mezzanine deck usage and found that in 2019, during the peak summer months, they were deployed on 55% of sailings.
CalMac said that during this time, the service was less reliable caused by increased delays and cancellations resulting in "significant impacts to the community".
Two lifeline ferries, Glen Sannox and Hull 802 - due to serve the Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert route - being built at Ferguson Marine were due to be in service in early 2018 but now well over five years behind schedule and their cost is expected to be soar to quadruple to £97m contract.
The Harris Forum did its own calculations and estimated the retention of services would cost £486,000 - almost half the CalMac estimate.
A CalMac spokesperson said: “Our position on the use of mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides hasn’t changed. Last year, we agreed to deploy the mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides’ last sailings of the day from Monday – Friday and Sunday, and on all Saturday sailings. We have had cause to deploy the mezzanine decks on MV Hebrides over and above this agreed position recently due to some services being overbooked and to provide additional capacity during recent disruption on the Lochboisdale service.”
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