CalMac saga continues as newest ferry is to enter drydock
A busy and arduous few months for CalMac ferries (Source: CalMac Ferries)
Fewer than four months after entering passenger service, Caledonian MacBrayne's newest vessel Isle of Islay is to be withdrawn from service for repairs to its bow visor and ramp system. The 450-passenger ferry, which began operating on the Kennacraig–Port Askaig route on March 31st, has been running stern-only since early June following problems with its bow ramp. The repair programme will be undertaken by Dales Marine Services at Greenock from July 15th to 28th. A number of warranty issued identified since the ship’s delivery will also be addressed.
“Isle of Islay has had a problem with her bow ramp and it is a warranty claim with the shipyard,” a CalMac spokesperson said. “This will allow us to return the bow ramp to operations, and to make use of the time in dock to address a few other warranty items.” CalMac said around 150 warranty items had been raised with the builder since the vessel's arrival in February, stressing that this was typical for a first-in-class vessel and that many were minor in nature. The outage has prompted concerns on Islay because replacement vessel Isle of Arran can carry only 55 cars compared with Isle of Islay's capacity of 100 vehicles.
“It is disappointing that she will be temporarily replaced by the much lower capacity Isle of Arran for the duration and this will certainly reduce space availability during the peak tourist season,” said Jim Porteous, secretary of the Islay Ferry Committee. Finlaggan, which carries 85 cars, will provide additional capacity on the route.
The repairs come amid wider fleet reliability challenges. Isle of Arran, one of CalMac's newly designated standby vessels, has also been deployed to cover services on the Oban–Craignure route after bow ramp issues affected Isle of Mull. Meanwhile, Glen Sannox has been reassigned to the Ullapool–Stornoway service while Loch Seaforth undergoes repairs to its starboard engine.
The drydocking follows the Scottish Government's recent intervention to secure the completion of three sister vessels currently under construction in Turkey amid concerns over the future of the shipyard building the ferries.
