CalMac has announced further amendments to the first part of its winter timetable in a bid to maintain services.
CalMac is forced to deal with a shortage of vessels exacerbated by ships taken out
of service due to annual dry-docking plus the ongoing repairs to MV Caledonian Isles,
one of the largest ships in the company.
The ferry operator has announced vessels will be redeployed across the network from Friday 18 October until at least Friday 15 November to meet anticipated and booked demand on major routes.
The main change will see a combined service imposed for South Uist and Barra using MV Isle of Mull.
MV Hebridean Isles will cover the Stornoway - Ullapool freight service during MV
Loch Seaforth’s overhaul. She will not be able to operate the Stornoway freight
service until the evening of Monday 21 October.
A CalMac spokesperson said: “We know amending timetables and combining services is disruptive, but we’ve analysed carrying data and bookings for this upcoming period and these indicate a shared service for Barra and South Uist will meet capacity requirements.
“Our priority is to provide services which meet the minimum requirements for every island during this challenging period.”
CalMac has brought forward the bulk of MV Caledonian Isles annual overhaul so that the majority of the work is carried out whilst the overhaul of her port gearbox is ongoing. The vessel will move to drydock on 23 October for these to be carried out alongside the repairs to the gearbox. Allowing for engine alignment and sea trials, her estimated return to service date is Wednesday 20 November.
MV Caledonian Isles was due to enter annual overhaul in January 2025 for approximately
four weeks. Whilst she will still have to complete recertification surveys in the
new year, the amount of time she is off-service for in early 2025 should be significantly
less than four weeks.
A CalMac spokesperson added: “We want to make best use of the time we have with the
vessel off-service and it is the prudent thing to do to carry out as much of this
work as possible now. Whilst this does not alleviate service challenges in the short-term,
we hope it will benefit us in the new year.”
Summary of vessel deployment
South Uist
MV Isle of Mull releases MV Isle of Lewis to cover MV Loch Seaforth’s annual overhaul from Saturday 19 October. South Uist services will now operate as a shared timetable with Castlebay up until Friday 15 November. This allows a service to both routes with the vessels available to deploy. CalMac says an analysis of its booking data indicates current capacity demands can be met using MV Isle of Mull.
Barra
MV Isle of Mull releases MV Isle of Lewis to cover MV Loch Seaforth’s annual overhaul from Saturday 19 October. Barra services will now operate as a shared timetable with Lochboisdale up until Friday 15 November. This allows CalMac to preserve a service to both routes with the vessels available to deploy. CalMac says an analysis of its booking data indicates current capacity demands can be met using MV Isle of Mull.
Harris & Lewis (Ullapool-Stornoway)
MV Loch Seaforth will operate an additional roundtrip on the morning of Sunday 20 October before departing for annual overhaul. MV Isle of Lewis picks up an early freight service at 2pm from Stornoway on Sunday 20 October.
MV Hebridean Isles will cover the freight service. However, as a result of the vessel operating on the Ardrossan – Brodick service until the end of Friday 18 October, she will not be in position to operate the freight service on Sunday evening. Service will instead commence from Monday 21 October at 5pm from Stornoway. MV Loch Seaforth will resume passenger and freight services on Sunday 13 November when she returns from annual overhaul.
Mull (Oban – Craignure)
No changes to published timetables for Mull with a single vessel MV Loch Frisa service
until Wednesday 23 October. However, MV Lord of the Isles will now cover services
from Wednesday 23 October until Tuesday 5 November instead of MV Isle of Arran. This
is to allow MV Isle of Arran to cover Ardrossan-Brodick services in the absence of
MV Caledonian Isles. MV Lord of the Isles departs for annual overhaul after services
on Tuesday 5 November and the route will return to single vessel MV Loch Frisa until
Friday 15 November.
MV Isle of Mull will operate a combined service to South Uist and Barra from Friday 18 October until Friday 15 November.
Arran (Ardrossan – Brodick and Troon – Brodick)
MV Hebridean Isles comes off station and head to Stornoway to cover freight runs during MV Loch Seaforth’s overhaul. She will depart Arran on Saturday 19 October.
MV Lord of the Isles will be redeployed to cover Ardrossan-Brodick services from
Saturday 19 to Tuesday 22 October. MV Isle of Arran is on schedule to complete annual
overhaul next week and will resume the service from Wednesday 23 October.
MV Alfred will continue to operate Troon-Brodick. This two-vessel service will remain
in place up to and including Friday 15 November.
As a result of MV Hebridean Isles covering services on Arran until the end of Friday 18 October, she will not be able to operate the Stornoway freight service until the evening of Monday 21 October.
Arran has faced disruption recently and CalMac acknowledges there will be high levels of displaced traffic were any sailings cancelled any services whilst MV Lord of the Isles is repositioned.
Islay (Kennacraig – Port Ellen / Port Askaig)
No change to the published timetable for Islay services. MV Finlaggan will operate a single vessel timetable from Friday 18 October. MV Lord of the Isles will operate an additional sailing from Port Ellen to Kennacraig at 0700 on Friday 18 October.
The vessel will then reposition to Arran to cover the Ardrossan-Brodick run until
MV Isle of Arran returns from annual overhaul. MV Hebridean Isles will cover freight
services on Ullapool-Stornoway.
CalMac announces ferry changes as it struggles to cope with aging, depleted fleet
16 October 2024
