Achi news desk-
It is moored at Greenock for bow visor repairs.
The development has disrupted services to and from the besieged island of South Uist.
One of the oldest ships in CalMac’s aging fleet, the 37-year-old MV Isle of Mull, has been drafted in to operate a two-island rush schedule until Friday to and from Barra and Lochboisdale, South Uist’s main port. It had already been moved from the Mull service to operate to and from South Uist until May 10 due to network problems.
CalMac, which is owned by the Scottish Government, has told users that the preparation of a full and permanent repair plan is underway and once completed they will be able to define the estimated duration of repairs.
The MV Isle of Lewis joins the MV Loch Shira and the MV Caledonian Isles on the sidelines as delays to the ferry company’s annual refurbishment program have led to disruption across the Clyde and Hebrides network.
CalMac had been running trials using the MV Isle of Mull to and from Uig, part of the Skye Triangle route, serving Uist and Harris. But they discovered that the boats would not be able to provide a regularly scheduled service there.
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A major protest was launched on South Uist last summer when it suffered yet another disruption when a ferry broke down and delays in annual maintenance meant islanders lost their service for almost the whole of June.
He had been drawing the short straw, because it was felt that according to the way CalMac runs its disruption management work on rescue services, the least number of people will be affected if their designated vessel, MV Lord of the Isles, is withdrawn to help elsewhere. .
An estimated 500 residents, 200 cars, 40 vans and 20 lorries converged on Lochboisdale – the port that connects South Uist to the mainland – on June 4 to protest the cancellation.
A ferry user group official said: “There is never a right time for these problems, but the latest disaster is causing more pain for the islands as we enter the potentially lucrative summer season.
“With the ongoing question marks over when we will see the two much-needed ferries built at Ferguson Marine, there must be a clear plan of action, with the necessary support to ensure we do not suffer as we continue to do so. done without any indication that the Scottish Government would ever provide any compensation to businesses, for example.”
CalMac was forced to pull the MV Loch Shira off one of its busiest routes on April 5 after it was damaged by heavy vehicles and was expected to be sidelined for months.
The ship, which normally operates on the Largs to Cumbrae route, went into dry dock for repairs and is not expected back until mid-June at the earliest.
The MV Loch Riddon had been operating a single vessel service leaving customers facing increased waiting times.
CalMac had relocated the oldest ferry in its fleet – MV Isle of Cumbrae – as the second support vessel on the route until another vessel could take over.
The ferry operator has warned users that, until further notice due to smaller boats operating on the route, the number of vehicles has been reduced and queues are expected.
It comes as the 31-year-old MV Caledonian Isles, which serves the Arran route, one of the busiest on the Scottish coast, has been out of action since undergoing an overhaul at the beginning of January and there is no timetable yet for return it. The Caledonian Islands have suffered refurbishment problems for the third year in a row.
He was sidelined for over three months with more steelwork and engine problems this time last year.
When it underwent its annual overhaul in early January 2023, it was due to return to service on 2 February but was delayed as, again, additional steelwork and engine repairs were required.
CalMac initially announced a provisional return date of February 28 but later pushed it back to March 31 and then further pushed back to mid-April.
Further steelwork problems were attributed to a further period spent at the yard in early 2022.
The ship was found to have had major technical problems during the overhaul again this year, after it was due to return on January 23.
Users have been told that the ships need steelwork, which has led to concerns about rust.
The MV Caledonian Isles was moved to the Cammell Laird yard facility in Liverpool for repairs and a race against time was underway in time for the summer schedule to begin on March 29.
But CalMac then discovered that repairs to the ship came with an estimated cost of around £5m.
A CalMac spokesman said: “MV Isle of Lewis was withdrawn from service on Sunday morning after problems with the bow visor were discovered. Following investigations, damage to the lower port cleat bracket has been identified, and the vessel is currently at James Watt Dock in Greenock Dock awaiting repairs.
“The MV Isle of Mull currently operates a combined service between Castle Bay, Lochboisdale and Oban, with all bookings from today moved to other sailings. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to customers whose orders may have been moved.
“The preparation of a full and permanent repair plan is underway and once completed we will be able to define an estimated repair duration, but we expect to have the vessel back in service by this weekend.”
This comes as CalMac’s expenditure on the maintenance of the aging ferry fleet has more than tripled in five and a half years.
Details from the state-owned ferry company show that around £16m had to be spent over the period on the unexpected repairs.
While an average of £147,377 a month was spent on the CalMac fleet almost six years ago the bill has risen to £481,310 now.
Concerns have been raised that around £3,850,483 has been spent on unplanned ferry maintenance in the first eight months of 2023/24 – which is already the highest since CalMac started tracking the expenditure.
It represents an increase of more than £800,000 on the bill for the whole of 2022/23.
Meanwhile, the new ferries Glen Sannox and sister ship Glen Rosa, which were due to come online in the first half of 2018, are now both due to serve Arran, at least six years late, and the costs are expected to be four times the original contract of £97m.
Since the SNP came into force in 2007, the average life of Scotland’s lifeboats has risen dramatically from 17 years to over 25 years. Back in 1974 the normal ferry was only 13 years old.
Three years ago, on 16 May 2021, we revealed that more than half of Scotland’s lifeboat ferry network was operating beyond its 25-year working life expectancy.
Since 2010 only five vessels have been launched to support the CalMac network, and only two are considered major ferries. These are the 5626 tonne MV Finlaggan, built in Poland in 2011 and the 9058 tonne MV Loch Seaforth which was built in Germany and launched in 2014.
Prior to 2010, boats were produced at a rate of one every 14 months. After that ferries were usually produced every 33.6 months.
