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02/04/2018

Easter demand means further changes to CalMac services

Ferry operator CalMac is making further changes to its West Coast services in order to absorb on-going capacity issues resulting from the MV Clansman still in dry dock. 

The Clansman is awaiting the return of her propulsion unit sent to Denmark for repairs. 

'The pressure on our services during this busy holiday period and the fact that we are a major vessel down, means we have had to tweak our services again to try and meet demand as best we can within the resources we are currently operating,' said CalMac's Head of Operations (north) Robert Morrison.

 CalMac will be redeploying these vessels to the following routes:
 
·        MV Hebrides will return to Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy tonight and will commence service tomorrow
·        MV Lord of the Isles will be re-deployed to Oban to carry out Oban-Coll/Tiree and Colonsay services
·        MV Hebridean Isles will be re-deployed to Lochboisdale to carry out daily Lochboisdale-Oban service

All these vessel movements are subject to weather, the adverse conditions forecast for the coming days may well impact on their ability to redeploy. Services will commence as soon as operationally possible. 

'We appreciate that this change will mean MV Lord of the Isles is not available to cover Mallaig Armadale services however, we are working through alternative small vessel options to provide some added resilience to the route. We will continue to update customers in the coming days as the situation progresses,' said Robert. 

'We apologise for the disruption over the past few days to our North Uist and Harris customers in particular. 
 
'With the current limited availability of vessels at our disposal we are constrained in our alternative service options, while having to balance the lifeline needs of all our communities.  We hope this new redeployment will address most of the capacity issues experienced on the Uig Traingle services over the past few days.

'I would like to express my thanks to our port staff and crew who worked tirelessly over the Easter Weekend to continue to deliver as many services as possible.'
 

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