Delivery of the first of four CalMac ferries being built in Turkey has been delayed until around the middle of February next year, four months late.
Further concerns arise that the revised construction timescale may be pushed back by some weeks into spring 2025.
MV Isle of Islay’s original delivery date was this month affording sufficient time to enter service on Scotland’s west coast around Christmas. An official naming ceremony planned on her arrival has been postponed.
Fitting-out and instalment work is still ongoing at the shipyard and the vessel will
not be handed over until between January and March by current estimates.
Several more weeks are required after her arrival in Scotland before her first passenger voyage as CalMac needs to undertake familiarisation trials.
Up to two months of trials may be scheduled which risk her missing the bulk of the winter timetable period.
The £45 million MV Isle of Islay was launched in March as the first of four similar
vehicle-passenger ships under construction at the being built at the Cemre shipyard
for Caledonian MacBrayne’s west coast network.
The Isle of Islay and her sister make up the first pair and will serve Islay. Another two vessels of the same class are to operate Western Isles’ routes.
All four ships from Turkey face delays. The second ferry, MV Loch Indaal, previously expected to be completed by March, is rescheduled to be sometime between April and the end of June.
Completion of MV Lochmor and MV Claymore - earmarked for split Lochmaddy and Tarbert
routes - are likely to be several weeks, possibly two or three months, beyond their
initial promised dates of June and October 2025.
Lochmor is due to be ready for launching later this month but her finish date now reckoned to be between July and September next summer. MV Claymore will be launched in December. However, her planned handover has been revised to between October and December 2025.
Scottish Government ferry owners Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (Cmal) outlined obstacles to the shipbuilding programme in August when an initial eight week delay was mooted.
War in Ukraine impacting steel supplies, Houthi terrorist attacks on vessels heading for the Suez Canal through the Red Sea, and the devastating earthquake in Turkey all contribute to the delay, say Cmal.
To protect seafarers lives and minimise maritime insurance premiums, cargo ships carrying materials from China and Asia for the new CalMac ferries are forced to seek an alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Such a lengthy detour adds 4,000 miles and 12 days sailing to voyages, pushing up the price of goods from soaring fuel bills and increased freight rates.
Cemre’s ship building yard in Yalova Province, suffered a serious loss of manpower in early 2023 when many employees and subcontractors from southeastern Turkey returned home to assist in rescue operations of a major earthquake.
Cmal’s chief executive Kevin Hobbs said current estimates suggest MV Isle of Islay’s
delivery date will be “extended by four months from the original scheduled date of
mid-October 2024. There are risks and uncertainties, particularly with specialist
equipment supply chains, which may shorten or extend this timeframe by a matter weeks.”
He warned: “Many of the same factors will also lead to a change in the delivery dates to the later vessels, but these are not expected to be as significant as on the first vessel.”
Overall costs of delivering the four vessels, including CMAL and CalMac expenses , remain largely on track but a further risk allowance of around 3% is being applied for budgeting purposes until such time as a final total can be reconciled.
Mr Hobbs highlighted: “We continue to work closely with Transport Scotland and CalMac to consider the service implications of the extended delivery dates and plan accordingly for revised entry in to service dates.
“At present we do not envisage the delivery of the MV Isle of Islay and future vessels having a significant impact on the deployment and cascade plan.”
He added: “The team at Cemre and our site personnel are working every day to make maximum progress towards ultimate delivery.
“They are working actively to outfit, test, trial, survey and complete the vessels as early as possible.”
No Turkey ferry for CalMac this Christmas as new ship hit by four-
1 October 2024
