New CalMac ferry Glen Sannox booked in for snagging repairs
The latest ferry to join Scotland's CalMac's west coast ferry fleet is to be taken out of service for a week for snagging repairs. MV Glen Sannox will move to Greenock from Sunday 23 February, six weeks after entering service, for "planned essential maintenance", the ferry operator said.During the week, a permanent fix will be made for an issue with the ship's anchor mechanism which was identified last year, and several other "minor remedial issues" will be dealt with. MV Isle of Arran will be redeployed to cover Troon to Arran services until Glen Sannox returns to service on Monday 3 March.
Glen Sannox, built by the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow, has been at the centre of a long-running political controversy after a series of issues led to delays and cost overruns. But CalMac said the new ship, the first large vessel to join the fleet in a decade, had performed exceptionally well since it began scheduled sailings on 13 January.
A spokesperson said: "MV Glen Sannox's performance since entering service has been first class. "We're delighted with how resilient she has proven, particularly when operating in weather conditions which have led to other services on the network being disrupted."We anticipate losing a number of return sailings to technical issues when any new vessel enters service, but MV Glen Sannox has outperformed our expectations."
A problem with the retrieval mechanism for the emergency anchors was identified during the ship's final approval trials by regulators, but a temporary solution was agreed so that the ship could enter service in January. Replacement parts have now arrived, and these will be fitted at Inchgreen, just a short distance downriver from the Ferguson shipyard which is still building an identical sister vessel, Glen Rosa. The 41-year-old MV Isle of Arran, which will provide cover for Glen Sannox, is also a Ferguson-built ship. Nicknamed "The Auld Trooper" by ferry users because of its longevity, the ship is currently operating between Oban and Craignure on the Isle of Mull.
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