Customer Update: Information on delays within our annual overhaul schedule and how this will affect our service

Published 1 March to cover the period 06 to 31 March 2022

As we progress through our annual overhaul schedule, we want to bring you up to date with some unexpected delays to the work and to provide early notice on how this will affect our customers and our service into March 2022.

Context

Engineers identified unexpected and substantial steelwork repairs that needed to be replaced on MV Clansman. Fifty square metres of steel, which is in a difficult location to access, is being replaced after it was identified as being below class limits for thickness, because of corrosion. This will extend her time in overhaul by approximately three weeks and will delay the dry docking of MV Hebrides. At the same time, MV Finlaggan's overhaul will go ahead as planned, albeit in a different location while we work to minimise the impact on the service, wherever possible.

What this means for customers and communities

To manage this situation and the repositioning of vessels, while simultaneously planning for further unplanned extensions to overhaul, we need to amend timetables for the routes outlined below.

Before we do that, we want to share more on the factors involved in these decisions. Vessels are constrained by the ports to which they can operate. This means that, unfortunately, there are limited options when it comes to maintaining a disrupted service. At times, this means we have to make the difficult decision to cancel or split services across multiple islands. Our team will work hard to reduce the impact on our customers, but the lack of alternative vessels continues to present a challenge.

South Uist

Mallaig - Lochboisdale: From 06 - 31 March, there will be no service between Mallaig - Lochboisdale while MV Lord of the Isles remains on the Coll/Tiree/Colonsay route. The Sound of Barra service will be amended 4 days per week to provide inbound and outbound connections via Castlebay, and this timetable will be published on the service status and information page on our website. A further update for the Mallaig - Lochboisdale service for the period 26 - 31 March will follow as soon as we have completed exploring options available.

Inner Hebrides

Oban - Coll - Tiree: From 25 to 31 March, MV Lord of the Isles will operate an amended timetable on this service from the current published summer timetable.

Oban - Colonsay: From 25 to 31 March, MV Lord of the Isles will operate an amended timetable on this service from the current published summer timetable.

Oban - Craignure: From 06 March - 24 March, one return sailing each Monday on the Oban/Craignure route will be cancelled while the MV Lord of the Isles remains on the Coll/Tiree/Colonsay route.

Southern Hebrides

Islay services will be operated with a double vessel timetable using MV Isle of Arran and MV Hebridean Isles. While this route can operate single vessel with MV Finlaggan during winter, it can't be sustained with a single vessel timetable using MV Isle of Arran or MV Hebridean Isles due to deck space and dead weight capacity.

If you are affected

If you have a booking which will be affected, our port teams will be in touch with you directly. This work is now underway.

We know how much our customers rely on ferry services. Our team, 70% of whom live and work locally, truly understand the impact of such disruption on the communities we serve.

While overhaul is an essential part of our maintenance schedule, required to maintain statutory certification and to reduce the risk of technical problems emerging in service, we are working at pace to complete the work and manage the effect on our service. We're also working with our local communities and regular customers to ensure their priorities around the transportation of goods and services are understood and supported.

As we work through this period, we will keep our customers updated via our website, particularly the service status and information pages and on our Twitter page @CalMac_Updates, our service information account.