CalMac breakdown: sailings between Stornoway and Ullapool resume following days of cancellations

The ferry service between Lewis and the mainland is back up and running after a technical fault led to all trips in the last 48 hours being cancelled.
CalMac service between Stornoway and Ullapool resumes service after days of cancellationsCalMac service between Stornoway and Ullapool resumes service after days of cancellations
CalMac service between Stornoway and Ullapool resumes service after days of cancellations

Many islanders and visitors were left stranded after the MV Loch Seaforth, the largest and newest vessel in CalMac’s fleet, developed problems with its engine control system on Monday.

The technical fault meant services for general traffic and freight between Ullapool and Stornoway were cancelled for almost three days.

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CalMac put on extra sailings between Skye and Harris - which can be accessed from Lewis - but a shortage of vessel capacity meant it had limited options to provide relief vessels.

Three other much older ships - MV Caledonian Isles, MV Hebridean Isles and MV Clansman - were already out of action for repairs.

As at 3pm on Wednesday, CalMac announced MV Loch Seaforth was fit to return to service following engineering works and successful sea trials.

The next scheduled departure was at 5.30pm from Ullapool and services were expected to resume to normal after that.

Despite the calm now, the last few days caused a storm on the island.

Helen Sandison, who runs the Western Isles Cancer Care Initiative, told the BBC the cancellations caused particular anxiety for patients.

Travel to and from the islands has already been compounded because some Loganair island flights from Inverness have been suspended due to industrial action and are not due to resume until 24 April, even though the dispute has been resolved.

Ms Sandison said: "We had one service user today who was due to start chemo in Inverness.

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"They were already disrupted because the Loganair flights to Inverness have been disrupted for the past few weeks, so they were having to travel by ferry and book an overnight stay which they wouldn't have had to have done if the flights were operational.

"That chemo has been cancelled - it's an added stress and worry for a patient who was ready to start their treatment."

She said the travel disruptions have been “an added headache for the NHS” in a time when it is overstretched.

CalMac said it has an urgent medical appointment process which always gives such patients priority including taxi connections if they are unable to travel on foot.

The state-owned ferry service said several customers requiring urgent medical appointments during the disruption were helped onto alternative ferry routes.

Alasdair Allan, SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said a number of his constituents were left stranded in Ullapool because of the cancellations.

Following the announcement of the Loch Seaforth resuming service, he said: “Now there is a huge task of catching up with the backlog.

"This incident- one of many- proves yet again that CalMac needs more ships."

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Additional services were added between Tarbert and Uig to give passengers an alternative route between the islands and the mainland.

CalMac said the amended timetable will continue into Thursday to assist with the backlog of traffic caused by the cancellations.

Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, explained the breakdown: “A fault with the sensor feeds and control cards within the vessel propulsion control and monitoring system were identified through detailed diagnostics by the vessel engineers working round the clock, supported by specialist contractors.

"These components were replaced and tested through sea trials, where all modes of operation were successfully proven on completion of repairs, confirming the problem has been resolved.”

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