Latest news with #MVAlfred
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Fault-prone CalMac ferry to be out of action for nearly two years
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. Read more: 'Final nail in coffin'. Scots fiasco firm loses out on big ferry contract to Poland 'Material uncertainty' over Scots ferry operator future amidst £45m funding hike 'Mismanagement': Public cost of Scots ferry fiasco firm hits £750m amidst overspends 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.
The Herald Scotland
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
We are CMAL shareholders. We should be told the truth about Ardrossan
It might appear to some that Peel Ports is a property developer with no interest in operating Ardrossan as a port for Brodick. Where was Peel Ports when it could have repaired the Irish berth? Why is it not kicking and screaming at CMAL using Troon? Could it possibly suit Peel Ports for the ferry operation to move to Troon? And as Troon becomes the port for Brodick, the increased distance will require an increase in the Road Equivalent Tariff to satisfy the increased journey length and a third ferry, heaven forbid, will be required to supply the same level of service from Troon. The proposed 42-year-old MV Isle of Arran sailing from Ardrossan over the Glasgow Fair will allow more sailing capacity than the MV Glen Sannox sailing from Troon. Kevin Hobbs, the chief executive of CMAL, says: "We do not believe and have expressly stated that resilience at Ardrossan (given the entrance through the roundheads and turn) will never be as resilient as Troon given the open sea approach." He forgets that a smaller, highly-manoeuvrable ferry on Troon berthing trials became pinned against the harbour wall, requiring a tug to pull her off. As a professional seaman I can assure you that the entrance to Troon is a lot more exposed than Ardrossan. If you want evidence of this please look up service cancellations by the MV Glen Sannox which even the devil incarnate catamaran MV Alfred beats. Ardrossan is more than adequate when the correct vessels are used; four are coming from Turkey soon. Brian Wilson refers to the 95% redaction in his FoI reply citing the catch-all grounds that "the balance of public interest lies in withholding the information". The sole shareholders of CMAL are the Scottish Government ministers elected by us to represent them; that means it is ultimately the public who are the shareholders and we need to know. Peter Wright, West Kilbride. We are all in trouble Ferguson Marine is still in trouble despite £500m of public money having gone in. Now a committee of MSPs has cast doubt upon its future without further investment ('Ferguson Marine needs 'urgent investment', warns committee', The Herald, July 4). £14.2m extra has already been promised by the SNP, although it is unclear as to whether this money has been received. The MV Glen Rosa is the only work on the books and is due to be delivered around the time of the 2026 Holyrood election. This will focus attention upon the financial record of the SNP after 19 years of rule. Has it been good value for money or a bottomless pit for taxpayers who are constantly asked for "just a little bit" more? The broad shoulders are sagging very badly. It is not just Ferguson Marine that is in trouble, it is the entire country. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow. Read more letters Dangerous definitions Murdo Grant (Letters, July 4) highlights how politicians cynically use the word 'terrorist' to condemn people with whom they disagree and to justify their own illegal acts of extreme violence. A classic example was provided by Margaret Thatcher, who in 1987 described South Africa's African National Congress as a 'typical terrorist organisation'. She was referring to the fact that the ANC had established an arms-length group called Umkhonto ke Sizwe, Spear of the Nation, MK for short; this followed the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. MK's task was to carry out a campaign of sabotage against the oppressive apartheid state that had inflicted so much violence on non-white South Africans. The campaign was directed at infrastructure, not people, though there was clearly a risk when explosives were being used that people could be injured or killed. The first head of MK was Nelson Mandela, who had reluctantly accepted that decades of struggle and sacrifice had failed to impact the white regime. As he said at his trial in Rivonia in 1963: 'It would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our demands with force.' Mrs Thatcher's Tories opposed sanctions against South Africa, to their eternal shame. Fast forward 20 years and Tory leader David Cameron apologised in person to Mr Mandela for 'mistakes my party made in the past'. As the saying goes: one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, and the label should be used with care. Which is why I'm alarmed by this week's vote at Westminster, by a majority of 359, to proscribe as a terrorist group Palestine Action, which vandalised two RAF transport aircraft at Brize Norton on June 20 ('MPs back move to ban action group', The Herald, July 3). The damage to the aircraft was minimal, though it has of course been inflated for political purposes. And you could argue that Palestine Action has done the country a favour by highlighting just how lamentable is security at our military establishments; I'm sure Mr Putin will have noticed. With the threshold for 'terrorism' now being so low, I guess I should expect a snatch squad to appear on my doorstep in dead of night if this letter is published. How very 1984, and from a Labour government. Doug Maughan, Dunblane. Drawbacks of foreign input I'm grateful to Jackie Kemp (Letters, July 4) for taking the time to read my letter of July 2. But I fear she has entirely missed the point. I mention neither 'Scottish independence' nor 'EU membership'. My point was apolitical and focused on the dangers of over-dependence on inward investment and outside decision-making. Our experience of the past shows that high dependence on inward investment can be like riding a powerful bucking bronco. The ride can be exhilarating, but only while it lasts. The end can be sudden and painful. Remember Silicon Glen? It was built up largely on the back of inward investment over three decades-plus, when Scotland was part of the EU. This involved leading corporates (many from the US) including IBM, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, DEC, Compaq, Sun Microsystems, National Semiconductor, Burr Brown, NEC, Sony and more. Where are they now? Sadly, 'no more' (cue the Proclaimers). Most were branch plants with no deep roots in Scottish soil. And most had left by the turn of the century when Scotland was still in the EU. When conditions change multinationals adapt. They restructure, downsize, or move away. And they do that 'irrespective of the national regulatory regime they're in'. That's the point. (PS And for the record, the EU market is not an insurance policy protecting all inward investment in Ireland. One of the largest investors – Pfizer in Cork – exports 80% of its product to the US, not Europe, and is therefore vulnerable to Trump tariffs.) Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns. • In Jackie Kemp's plea for an independent Scotland to join the EU (Letters, July 4), she stresses the potential trade benefits. Yet these can be obtained by joining EFTA/EEA (as advocated by Alba), without the need for the substantial annual net contributions to the EU which accession would entail. George Morton, Rosyth. Nelson Mandela with the late Queen Elizabeth: he was branded a terrorist by Margaret Thatcher (Image: PA) Send migrants to Dartmoor Sir Keir Starmer has said that he deeply regrets claiming that the UK risked becoming an "island of strangers". Why? Twenty thousand unwelcome strangers have crossed the Channel this year. Does Sir Keir not realise that these people will never contribute to our economy? We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais. There are over 32,000 asylum seekers in UK hotels at a cost of £1.3 billion a year. There are 19,244 foreign offenders awaiting deportation. Add on the cost of priority NHS treatment and the £40,000 a year for each of the 10,355 foreign offenders in jail. Asylum seekers (and everyone claims to be one) get £49.18 a week whilst their asylum claims are being processed. We should stop pandering to the pro-immigrant charities and migrant legal aid lawyers and put these pseudo asylum seekers in tents on Dartmoor guarded by the armed forces until their asylum claims have been determined. The UK needs to deter illegal immigration before we do become an "island of strangers". Clark Cross, Linlithgow. The end of empathy I recommend everyone reads Rebecca McQuillan's article (Now Donald Trump turns to alligators to terrorise migrants, ("Now Donald Trump turns to alligators to terrorise migrants", heraldscotland, July 3). This is where MAGA brainwashing leads to, and is brilliantly expressed by Ms McQuillan in her final paragraph: "Mirthless jokes about vulnerable othered minorities trying to escape man-eating animals. This is what happens when empathy dies." Willie Towers, Alford. Time to ditch green dreams On June 13, 2025, the UK Government announced a £500 million investment, paid for by UK taxpayers, to accelerate the development of the UK's first regional hydrogen transport and storage network. (Thankfully, most likely in the industrial heartlands of the UK – although the Scottish Government has similar ideas). One of the objectives of this funding is to complement the £2 billion which has already been invested by the Government to incentivise production of green hydrogen in the first hydrogen production allocation round contract (HAR1). This is like the incredibly lucrative 15-year initial Contracts for Difference (CfDs) awarded to to wind farm developers. This will mean new gas pipes being installed as well as new hydrogen storage depots. And that is on top of the desecration now being caused by the grid expansion to give us all more "green electricity". All this taxpayer money will be going to commercial companies to hasten our journey to net zero and a low-carbon economy. When such a fuss is being made over the £6 billion that might have been saved from welfare reforms, why is there no scrutiny of where our money is going to meet this net zero ideology? So were proposed winter fuel cuts and welfare cuts (both now watered down) supposed to fund the net zero ambitions? Perhaps its time for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to question the sanity of Energy Minister Graham Stuart and use common sense to ditch the green dreams and balance the budget. Graham Lang, Chairman, Scotland Against Spin, Ceres, Fife. Accentuate the positive I was disappointed in your choice of front page headline: 'More than £1.4 million spent on cleaning up sewage spills" (The Herald, July 4). This is a fact, but why not emphasise the good news? Sewage spills costs have reduced by 75 per cent in two years, from £540k in 2022 to £136k in 2024. This might be a reflection that most wet wipes are now paper-based. Eric Macdonald, Paisley. Discontent over attribution Lord David Lipsey coined the phrase "winter of discontent" ("Labour peer who coined 'winter of discontent' phrase found dead after swim", The Herald, July 4)? Very strange: I always thought the author of that phrase was William Shakespeare, in the opening line of Richard III. Derrick McClure, Aberdeen.
The Herald Scotland
04-07-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Bit part timetable revealed ahead of Ardrossan ferry return
However, a timetable of sailings has confirmed that just one return journey will be made on Wednesday, July 9, and on Friday, July 11, with all other sailings on the route cancelled - including none at all on Thursday, July 10. Meanwhile, the troubled MV Caledonian Isles is edging closer to a return to dry dock for another overhaul. The vessel is currently at James Watt Dock in Greenock. CalMac said work to resolve pitch control issues on the 32-year-old Caley Isles was progressing as a "priority" and confirmed the ferry may require to enter dry dock again to fix the problem. Read More: This week's announcement of the return of MV Isle of Arran to Ardrossan was warmly welcomed. The harbour hasn't had a ferry service to Arran since the same ship was deployed up north at the start of the year. The vessel will be rerouted to Ardrossan while MV Alfred - currently operating from Troon - goes in for essential maintenance for a fortnight. CalMac said the new MV Glen Sannox would continue to operate from Troon, with the Isle of Arran running from Ardrossan. The vessel will return on Monday, July 7. But after 7am sailings to Arran and the return to Ardrossan departing Brodick at 8.20am on Wednesday morning, it will leave the Clyde "due to essential vessel repairs and deployment requirements elsewhere". MV Isle of Arran will return to service from Ardrossan with the 6pm sailing to Brodick on Friday, July 11 and a return crossing leaving Arran at 7.20pm. It will then be expected to continue service until the return of MV Alfred to Troon on Monday, July 21.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- BBC News
CalMac ship shortage leads to summer west coast ferry disruption
Some west coast ferry services face disruption at the height of the summer holidays as CalMac struggles with a shortage of ships. The publicly-owned operator said one of its largest vessels MV Caledonian Isles - which has been out of action for 18 months - is still not ready to return to service. Another major vessel, MV Lord of the Isles, needs work on its engines, while the chartered catamaran MV Alfred is due for annual maintenance. CalMac is redeploying several ferries across the network in a bid to maintain services, but has warned that sailings to Arran, Islay, Mull, South Uist and Colonsay will be disrupted. The reshuffle will, however, allow sailings from Ardrossan to Arran to resume next week when the 41-year-old ship MV Isle of Arran returns to the route. The North Ayrshire town has been without a ferry service for six months, since the arrival of MV Glen Sannox which is too large to fit the Ardrossan facilities, and sails instead from Troon. A CalMac spokesperson said having three major vessels out of service in July meant some disruption was unavoidable but it was taking steps to give communities as much capacity as spokesperson said : "Both MV Alfred and MV Lord of the Isles require the works they'll be off service for, and we are doing the best we can to maintain service levels and meet capacity requirements on all islands with the vessels available to us during this period."We are grateful to local communities for their support as we've worked through a complex set of circumstances and apologise to those who will see services affected between 7 and 21 July." What sailings are affected? MV Alfred, the catamaran being leased from Pentland Ferries, will be out of service between 7 and 21 July for essential maintenance. The ferry operates between Troon and 9-11 July, MV Lord of the Isles, which usually operates between Mallaig/Oban and Lochboisdale in South Uist will be off service while work to its main engines is carried Isle of Arran will operate five sailings per day from Ardrossan from Monday, apart from between 9 and 11 July when it will cover sailings to Caledonian Isles remains out of action and has been unable to carry passengers since January 2024 due to a series of faults. Engineers from Norway are assessing the latest sea trials with an update expected disruption will have a knock-on effect on services to South Uist and Coruisk and MV Loch Frisa will operate a two-vessel service to Mull. MV Isle of Mull will operate a daily return service to South Uist via Oban, but will stop at Mull en-route to South Uist to add extra capacity.
The Herald Scotland
01-07-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Ferry service to resume between Ardrossan and Arran
The company will deploy either MV Lord of the Isles or MV Isle of Arran on the route if MV Caledonian Isles is forced to go into dry dock for further lengthy repairs. The Ardrossan to Arran service is expected to run between Monday, July 7 and Monday, July 21. READ MORE: That's the period when the second ferry running to Arran from Troon - the chartered MV Alfred - will be removed from service for essential maintenance. A CalMac spokesperson told The Herald his week that there remained a chance that the troubled and ageing MV Caledonian Isles could be fit to return to the Ardrossan service. An announcement is expected within days. MV Lord of the Isles (Image: Newsquest) If the Caley Isles does have to return to dry dock, the spokesperson said either MV Lord of the Isles or MV Isle of Arran would sail from Ardrossan until MV Alfred returns to full service. Ardrossan has been without a ferry service since January. Back in January 2024, MV Caledonian Isles went in for an annual service - and didn't return. Major issues were discovered and lengthy repairs began. At first, it was hoped the vessel would be back on the route by summer that year. Return dates were announced... and cancelled. MV Isle of Arran was redeployed to the Ardrossan route, with hopes high that the Caley Isles would be fit to return to service by January 2025. That month, the new MV Glen Sannox set sail for Arran from Troon, rather than Ardrossan. The vessel can't sail from the North Ayrshire port until a major upgrade of Ardrossan Harbour is completed. Hopes remained high that the Caley Isles would be fit to return to service that same month. It didn't happen. And when MV Isle of Arran had to return to the Hebridean route in January, Ardrossan was left without any ferry service at all. Now, at last, it seems that a regular service between Ardrossan and Arran will be back... for the duration of MV Alfred's maintenance at least.
