Fault-prone CalMac ferry to be out of action for nearly two years

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

They say the vessel will reposition to drydock in Leith in the coming days for works to begin.
The ferry operator's winter timetable runs from 20 October 2025 to 26 March 2026, and its entire fleet undergoes annual maintenance between September and May each year.
Before the latest development, CalMac had said the costs of the repairs had risen to nearly £11m.
They said they were seeking compensation rom Cammell Laird over problems discovered when the ship returned to Scotland last September, after the Merseyside firm carried out the first phase of work.
The claim relates to deformation of the ship's hull, which has required months of remedial work. Cammell Laird has declined to comment.
The £10.8m repair bill for the vessel is equivalent to a quarter of last year's maintenance budget for the entire CalMac fleet.
It is also £1.8m more than a catamaran ferry was available to buy for £9m four years ago which was rejected by Scottish Government-owned procuring and ferry owning company Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL).
The rejected ferry was similar in design to the 'emergency' catamaran ferry MV Alfred serving Arran that has now been chartered for a further five months to help state-owned ferry operator [[CalMac]] cope with lifeline services across the Clyde and Hebrides network.
The usual Arran ferry MV Caledonian Isles was due out of its annual overhaul on February 17 after going in in January but remains out of service.
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After a series of postponements, it had been scheduled to return on mid-June - but now CalMac are less sure about its return.
Duncan Mackison, CalMac chief executive said: 'Based on the current prognosis, we could be in a situation where MV Caledonian Isles returns in September in a best-case scenario or November in a worst-case scenario.
Duncan Mackison (Image: NQ)
"However, we intend to publish winter timetables soon and aim to give communities and customers certainty about service levels and vessel deployment during that period.
"This is a complex process as we need to develop this plan whilst factoring in an annual overhaul schedule that will see a fleet, which is another year older, spend a record of number of days in planned maintenance.
"The return of MV Caledonian Isles, and the expected arrival of MV Isle of Islay, will provide relief and resilience.'
MV Caledonian Isles will operate Ardrossan-Brodick when she returns to service.
The ship has faced a series of issues including rust and twisted frames.
CalMac had been booking passengers on MV Caledonian Isles for the Ardrossan to Arran ferry crossing in in mid-June in expectation of its return - only for it not to happen.
A 'save Ardrossan' group had had to postpone a celebration because of the continuing uncertainty of the return of the ferry.
A ferry user group official said: "Not much has amazed me about the state of our ferry service, but the will it-won't it of the return of MV Caledonian Isles does astound me, especially as we know there was enough confidence in its return that bookings were being accepted in June.
"It is mismanagement on top of mismanagement and we can only hope that there will be a solution at some point."
"But it would not surprise me if the ferry was scrapped."
MV Caledonian Isles (Image: Ian Dalgleish) In June, during sea trials, CalMac identified an issue with instability in pitch response affecting both controllable pitch propellers (CPP) on MV Caledonian Isles.
They estimate that work will take up to eight weeks, including transit time and sea trials.
Two repair options are being progressed at the same time.
The first will see the vessel drydock, where the shaft lines will be disassembled.
CalMac say this will allow them to "look for evidence of excessive friction between the push/pull rod guides, and the internal bore of the intermediate and tail shafts". T
The second solution proposed by Kongsberg Marine, will see the retrofitting of a new system.
Three months is required for the parts to be manufactured, which have been ordered, and then additional time for installation and sea trials which would take the total scope of work to four months to complete.
CalMac said there was no immediate service impact, as wet they have not factored MV Caledonian Isles into our deployment plans for the coming weeks.