CalMac has published a revised winter deployment plan in light of a lengthy delay to MV Caledonian Isles return to service.
With the large vessel expected to be out of service for repairs until the end of March, when the winter timetable ends, CalMac has amended plans across the west coast.
South Uist faces the brunt of changes while Tarbert will see a cut in the frequency of sailings.
The vast majority of Lochboisdale sailings are cancelled from this weekend until 1 December (when the Lord of the the Isles is presently expected to be back in service from her annual overhaul). MV Isle of Arran will not cover the route as previously stated by CalMac. The Arran remains deployed on the Ardrossan – Brodick service for the remainder of the winter timetable. As a result, service for Lochboisdale is cut to one weekly return on Thursdays only (arrival at Oban after midnight) by MV Clansman until December.
Additional Lochmaddy sailings will operate via Uig while CalMac promises additional Sound of Barra sailings aligned to the Castlebay service.
If she returns from her Liverpool overhaul on schedule, MV Lord of the Isles (Loti)
is due to operate at South Uist between 1 December and 4 January - with some sailings
operating to Oban and not Mallaig - including an amended service on Mondays to accommodate
the Colonsay service.
The Loti heads off to cover sailings in the Inner Hebrides from the beginning of January until the third last week in March.
CalMac have their fingers crossed that the MV Isle of Mull will emerge from drydock
on time to start covering the route on the appointed date of 5 January. A South Uist
- Oban run is scheduled over January. For the month of February until 3 March, the
Mull will operate a timetable under a shared schedule for South Uist and Barra.
MV Isle of Mull's potential deployment to Lochboisdale from 8 March until 23 March
is not guaranteed at present. The situation will be updated by January. If the service
is cancelled CalMac will explore alternative travel options during this period via
Uig - Lochmaddy, and via Sound of Barra - Castlebay - Oban link.
From 24 March to 27 March, MV Lord of the Isles will operate the South Uist service as currently published.
Tarbert will suffer some reduced sailings during the rest of this month and again
in March when services are changed to offer additional service to Lochmaddy to make
up for the removal of most direct services to Lochboisdale from Saturday 16 November.
Affected traffic to Tarbert will be accommodated on the Ullapool-Stornoway service
said CalMac.
MV Isle of Lewis is to return to her Castlebay service from this weekend until drydocking
in February. (MV Isle of Mull last sailing to Barra is this Friday night, MV Isle
of Lewis is expected to pick up the Oban - Castlebay run on Saturday). In February,
MV Isle of Mull will operate a skeleton shared service with South Uist. MV Isle of
Lewis should be back from overhaul from 4 March.
MV Hebrides is scheduled to operate the Skye triangle until 22 February with MV Clansman taking then over until 22 March. However, within that period (8 to 22 March), services will be amended to offer additional service to Lochmaddy with reduction of Tarbert sailings. MV Hebrides is scheduled to return to service from 24 March.
Well before the ink dried on CalMac’s deployment plan it was overtaken by events.
MV Loch Seaforth will not return to service tomorrow (Thursday) due to a hold-up
at overhaul. She is currently alongside a lay-up berth on the Mersey and the latest
information hopes for her return to service on Friday or Saturday. MV Isle of Lewis
remains in Stornoway until later on Friday based on the situation on Wednesday afternoon.
When the Lewis heads for a month’s annual maintenance in early February, MV Isle
of Mull will operate a shared service with South Uist.
A CalMac spokesperson said: “Whilst this is a challenging period, our revised deployment plan reflects our efforts to take on board the wide range of feedback we received from islanders and businesses and should allow us to maintain lifeline services and meet demand across all routes on the network.”
“All islands will maintain a direct service under this plan, and we are committed to supporting local communities throughout this period of disruption,” said CalMac.
The average available daily deck space on sailings off Uist from 16-30 November is
45%. Sailings to Uist is 36%.
All Colonsay sailings from 16 November through to the end of the year have at least half their deck space still available to book
All sailings to Mull, which will operate single vessel with MV Loch Frisa for longer in winter, have at least 15% of car deck space available from 16 Nov until 24 Nov. This increases to at least 30% from 25 Nov until the end of the year.
CalMac announces latest disruption updates to winter ferry sailings
13 November 2024
