South Uist ferry service to be withdrawn for six weeks

Ferry services between Mallaig/Oban and Lochboisdale will be cancelled between from next week until 13 May.

The six week outage not only comes at the start of CalMac’s summer seasons but also hits at the busy Easter holidays.

South Uist’s regular vessel, MV Lord of the Isles, will be retained on the Coll and Tiree run until the problems afflicting CalMac’s fleet stabilises.

The shipping operator made the decision to move MV Isle of Mull - which currently acts as relief for Lochboisdale - to the Islay route to assist in covering MV Finlaggan’s drydocking.

Up until today, CalMac said MV Lord of the Isles would return on 9th April despite the circumstances of out-of-action major ships casting doubt on that assurance.

The dire shortage of appropriate vessels coupled with a series of breakdowns and faults in CalMac’s aging and overstretched complement of ferries has resulted in a fleet reshuffle.

The company said it has to “re-deploy vessels elsewhere on the network while we continue to manage the delays experienced in vessel overhaul and additional technical issues within the fleet.”

To provide a connection for Uist traffic, we will be offering additional daily services to the Sound of Barra.

Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, said: “Our service continues to be affected by delays to the annual overhaul schedule and its subsequent impact on vessel deployment.

“With no spare vessels, it is a challenging period for our customers, and we apologise for the disruption this is causing, particularly at the start of the tourist season.

“We are focused on returning those vessels which have required extended repairs back to service as soon as possible and returning to a normal service as quickly as we can.

“We will continue to work with community representatives and will keep customers informed of any developments."

Meanwhile, Skye triangle sailings face disruption or cancellation on 22 and 23 April during a delayed changeover of vessels. MV Hebrides is set to depart for overhaul early on 22 April while the beleaguered MV Clansman is currently estimated to complete repairs and pick up the service - barring any further breakdowns - at some point on the following day.

South Uist ferry service to be withdrawn for nearly six weeks

29 March 2023