Hebrides News

 

 

CalMac has confirmed that one of its older vessels, MV Caledonian Isles, is unlikely to be back in action for a further four months due to structural strengthening and steelwork issues.  

By the time she returns to service in the middle of June - it could be even later - she will have been sidelined for nearly half a year.

Consequences of the delay will have an impact on various routes across the CalMac network and not just on the Caledonian Isles’ own Ardrossan to Brodick service.

CalMac acknowledges the situation will cause “concern and frustration for communities across the whole network, and we apologise for this.”

A large area of severely corroded and weakened steel discovered in an extremely awkward location beneath her engines will cost around £5 million to replace at present estimates.

The circumstances arising amid a dire shortage of suitable vessels within a severely under-strength and aging fleet forces CalMac to decide what ships could potentially be removed from island communities as it endeavours to cover the Caledonian Isles busy timetable for the island of Arran.

CalMac is taking a close look at a range of impacts of not having the MV Caledonian Isles in service.  

Fleet changes and reshuffling ferries around the network are to be published by Monday 4 March.

Her prolonged outage will spark concerns of a repeat of last year’s chaotic scenes which resulted in mass cancellations of sailings and controversial removal of lifeline ferry services when the MV Hebridean Isles was ruled out of action for months on end.

South Uist bore the brunt of ferry outages in 2023 when the Lochboisdale - Mallaig route was simply abandoned under CalMac’s strategy to transfer their ship to other islands.

Uist and Benbecula businesses lost around £2.6 million worth of trade according to a survey when CalMac withdrew sailings on a wholesale basis. The majority of losses were incurred over April and June when a reduced timetable of just one ship every seven days for a number of weeks followed by a full withdrawal of service.

Assessment of the full extent of poor steel is underway in dry dock in Birkenhead on the River Mersey.

Engineers will commence repair work on a later date after lorry loads of new steel plates are ordered in. Overall, the works will be a time consuming and extremely complex exercise.

Both her main engines - plus generators - need to be removed to allow access to the affected water ballast tanks below the engine room deck.

CalMac highlights the programme of repairs need to staggered in a planned, coordinated manner “rather than all at the same time” to maintain the vessel’s structural integrity.

Every vessel in CalMac’s fleet is subject to annual overhaul. Surveys of the vessels’ structures are completed continuously in preparation for the annual overhaul period. Scopes of work for each vessel are planned around the outcome of these surveys. However, there are limitations to what these surveys can detect.

Numerous surveys have been completed on MV Caledonian Isles during her life and every year works are completed to CalMac’s satisfaction and that of Lloyds, her classification society.

This year, the need for a significant level of steelwork has emerged during the overhaul process.

Working with the repair yard, Class, Flag, and independent specialists, a carefully defined plan will be developed for repairs on a staggered basis.

Robbie Drummond, CalMac’s chief executive, said: “We know this news will cause concern and frustration for communities across the whole network, and we apologise for this.

“Our team will be working exceptionally hard over the coming days to assess every eventuality in terms of vessel deployment, with a view to minimising disruption for the communities and customers we serve. We will do the best we can in these circumstances, but it is unavoidable that there will be a knock-on effect on other routes on the network.

“MV Caledonian Isles has served North Ayrshire with distinction for over three decades, but like any ageing vessel the scope of work required in annual overhaul is likely to grow each year.

“Over a third of our vessels are now operating beyond their average life expectancy, and we invested record levels in annual maintenance in 2023.

“We are stretched to the absolute limit in terms of network deployment already, and the arrival of six major and 10 small vessels in the coming years will provide much-needed resilience and reliability to the service.”

MV Caledonian Isles entered annual overhaul on 4 January, and she has always served the Isle of Arran, operating between Ardrossan and Brodick.

 

 

CalMac braced for summer chaos as major ship remains out of action for £5 million repairs

 

22 February 2024