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'Exceptional' pressures force CalMac fleet reshuffle

Christopher Brindle A black and white ship with red funnelsChristopher Brindle
MV Caledonian Isles, already out of service for more than a year, will not return until April

Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has rejigged services and vessel deployment plans as it grapples with an "exceptional" series of problems with its fleet.

Delays in repairs and new issues identified during annual maintenance mean the west coast operator is facing a shortage of ships.

Chief executive Duncan Mackison said a third of its large vessels were currently out of action or operating with reduced capacity.

The charter of the privately-owned catamaran Alfred - said to cost £1m a month - has now been extended to the end of May to maintain services, while the summer-only Ardrossan-Campbelltown service remains suspended for another year.

MV Caledonian Isles, which operates on the Arran route has been out of action since last February with a series of issues including rust and twisted frames.

The ship was due back next month, but this has been pushed back, possibly to late April, after new issues were found with the tubes for its propeller shafts.

MV Isle of Lewis, which operates to Barra, needs steelwork replaced during annual maintenance, and will not return to service until Sunday 23 March, almost a month later than expected.

MV Clansman has also been slightly delayed in overhaul, while MV Isle of Mull is restricted to just 45 passengers.

This is due to problems with its emergency evacuation systems, which will not be fixed until mid May at the earliest.

A chart showing the ships in the CalMac fleet with the year buld and their ages
CalMac has faced severe pressures maintaining its ageing fleet

Mr Mackison said the publicly-owned firm was "dealing with an exceptional set of circumstances".

"Challenges with several vessels in the fleet have converged at the same time, creating a significant capacity issue which leaves us with difficult choices to make in terms of service provision," he added.

"Given the age of our fleet and the need to overhaul all vessels outside of the busy summer season, our vessels are spending a record amount of time in overhaul this winter.

"This stretches our services and, when unplanned delays such as those we're experiencing with MV Isle of Lewis and MV Clansman are factored in, our resources to the limit"

Christopher Brindle A red and white catamaranChristopher Brindle
The catamaran Alfred has been chartered from Pentland Ferries to boost CalMac services since the spring of 2023

The lack of vessels means a Troon-only service to Arran will continue - using the new ferry Glen Sannox and catamaran Alfred - and the more frequent services from Ardrossan will not resume until Caledonian Isles returns in April.

A shared service for Barra and South Uist has been extended.

Mr Mackison said: "The extension of the shared service is far from ideal but is the only deployment plan available to us which allows us to maintain services and meet demand across the network."

The Ardrossan-Campbeltown route has been cancelled for a third year in a row.

Full details of services are available at the CalMac website.

Four new large Calmac ships are being constructed at a shipyard in Turkey, with the first due for delivery in the coming months, but all four are delayed and will require weeks of crew familiarisation trials before entering service.

MV Glen Sannox, built by the Ferguson shipyard, began scheduled sailings in January after years of delays, offering a significant boost for Arran services.

Its sister ship Glen Rosa is currently due for delivery in September but a further delay is expected and a new update from the yard is awaited.