Scottish Government and CalMac working ‘urgently’ to resolve ferry issues

The Scottish Government is working “urgently” with CalMac to tackle ferry shortages affecting the west coast island network.

Eight CalMac ferries were out of action at the weekend, four of them for planned maintenance and the others due to technical issues.

The ferry company said that the “critical situation” had worsened at the weekend after MV Lord of the Isles, which serves Coll, Tiree & Colonsay, reported an engine issue on Saturday.

Meanwhile the long-awaited MV Glen Sannox, which only entered service last year between Troon and Brodick on the island of Arran, the MV Isle of Islay and MV Isle of Arran were also not in service due to “unplanned technical issues”.

Scotland’s Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “I want to assure all those impacted by the current shortage of ferries on the West Coast Island network that the Scottish Government and CalMac are urgently working closely to resolve these issues.

“Our shared priority is to ensure minimum disruption, and to restore services as quickly as possible.

“Work is being delivered at pace to bring the MV Glen Sannox back into service and introduce the MV Isle of Islay into service, alongside other actions to ensure we are able to provide services for passengers.

“This includes ensuring clear and effective communication to customers is prioritised.

“Given the significant disruption facing these services and our island communities, I want to thank people for their co-operation and encourage everyone due to use the ferry network in the coming days to check with their operators to understand any impacts.”

The MV Isle of Arran serves the island of Mull on the Oban to Craignure route, while the MV Isle of Islay serves the island of Islay.

CalMac said at the weekend that it is working to resolve the issues but warned passengers to expect disruption.

CalMac chief executive Duncan Mackison said on Sunday: “The situation remains critical and our focus over the weekend has been on ensuring service provision is in place throughout the next seven to 10 days.

“Services will be amended for Barra, Harris, and North and South Uist from Tuesday and MV Isle of Mull will be redeployed to serve Coll, Tiree and Colonsay.

“This will be in place from Tuesday March 31 to Thursday April 9 to give communities and customers a clear view of minimum service levels, with the hope that we can review and enhance services before then as some of the eight vessels off-service complete maintenance and repairs and return.”