CalMac faces winter of discontent as ferry disruption looms
8 October 2024
CalMac warns of a ‘perfect storm’ for ferry service disruption on Hebridean and west
coast sea routes this winter.
In addition to severe weather disruptions, frequent changes to ferry timetables and
deployment in the coming months are likely due to a dire lack of ships to cover the
annual overhaul period warns CalMac which means switching vessels across routes and
changing timetables.
Winter timetables heavily relied on MV Caledonian Isles (Caley Isles), one of the
largest in the fleet, being finally back in service.
Initial redeployment plans excluded the MV Glen Sannox and MV Isle of Islay new-builds
as the maritime industry holds a prudent expectation of delivery delays and surprise
faults affecting brand new ships straight out of the construction yard.
Knock-on impacts of the Caley Isles outage require immediate changes to the Stornoway
- Ullapool freight service when MV Loch Seaforth heads off to drydock at the end
of next week, .
MV Hebridean Isles which was due to spend the last breath of her operational life
in Stornoway is now set to be redeployed elsewhere as CalMac is forced to reshuffle
the original winter cascade arrangement. The 40-year-old vessel is to be scrapped
next month. MV Isle of Lewis is still expected to vacate her Barra run to operate
the main Stornoway passenger service.
The South Uist community is braced to bear further disruption to their service. The
ferry service currently suspended and bookings are closed. Proposals to provide a
Sound of Barra connection with the Castlebay ferry are being considered. Many impacted
Lochbisdale travellers are being transferred to the Lochmaddy route.
New bookings and amendments between Thursday 10 – Sunday 20 October are currently
closed while we move impacted Mallaig/Lochboisdale bookings.
CalMac is expected to confirm the return of MV Lord of the Isles (Loti) to the Lochboisdale
- Mallaig service on Friday 18 October for a short period.
The Loti is reckoned to be a prime contender to be redeployed over the winter. She
is due to depart on 5 November for nearly four weeks of maintenance. Its unclear
if MV Isle of Arran will still step into the breach.
Sailing times on the Oban - Castlebay service are under review for the coming fortnight
in a bid to provide a link for disrupted Lochboisdale traffic to travel on the Sound
of Barra ferry. On Friday, MV Isle of Lewis will delay her departure from Castlebay
until 10am.
Overhaul for Islay’s main vessel, MV Finlaggan, will be pushed back by several weeks
until late April.
CalMac’s winter schedule rested on the Caley Isles being back in sea-going service
by now. However, difficulties in obtaining spare parts for engines that have not
been manufactured for many years puts her out of service until at least mid-November.
That leaves a short spell of just six weeks of passenger duties until her next disappearance
for a scheduled month long overhaul at the beginning of January.
Yet, there is no guarantee the ship will be fixed next month and her prolonged outage
is affecting the start of this winter’s annual maintenance schedule for all the ferry
operator’s vessels.
CalMac is looking overseas, it is believed, for spare parts to the clutch outer sleeve
in her main engine port gearbox. Components have been ordered but they are on a long
lead time, so alternative options are being explored to replace the damaged section.
Adding to her breakdown woes, the Caledonian Isles’ starboard stern tube which houses
the propeller shaft also needs repair it has emerged.
In a bid to gain breathing space, CalMac has extended a temporary deployment plan
until Sunday 20 October, taking it up to the end of the summer timetable period.
Duncan Mackison, CalMac’s interim chief executive, said: “We did anticipate a difficult
winter, with our major vessels spending a record number of days in annual maintenance,
and it is shaping up to be just that. The combination of MV Caledonian Isles ongoing
technical issues and the start of this year’s maintenance window has created a perfect
storm for ferry services.
“We have a baseline deployment plan for the winter timetable period which allows
for MV Caledonian Isles being is in service. Now, we are likely to have to regularly
review where vessels are deployed to try and maintain services across the whole west
coast.
“Our priority is to keep communities on the network informed of our plans, and meet
service demands wherever we can. However, it is in inevitable there will be some
disruption and on behalf of CalMac I apologise for that.
“I know this will be disappointing news for local people and many of my colleagues,
who live and work in these communities, share in that disappointment. We are doing
everything in our gift to provide certainty to people who rely on us to travel, and
to add resilience to services wherever possible.”
CalMac pledged to provide an update by Thursday 17 October over its decisions on
shifting ships across the fleet.
Vessels have been redeployed since 25 September when MV Isle of Arran exited service
for annual maintenance. As MV Caledonian Isles, which MV Isle of Arran was acting
as relief for, was not ready to return to service, vessels had to be moved aroudn
the network to provide cover to Arran.
MV Caledonian Isles - which has always served the island of Arran, operating Ardrossan-Brodick
- has failed to return to service since she went into drydock for her annual service
at New Year. Substantial steelwork corrosion to her engine deckplates required significant
time consuming repairs involved the removal of her engines this summer. More recent
breakdowns and gearbox repairs prevented her return.
Even if she does return to operational duties this year, her next overhaul is just
six weeks later, on 6 January, when she is due to be out of action again for about
a month.