Latest news with #MVCaledonianIsles
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Return of Arran ferry delayed by up to four months
An ageing ferry which has not sailed since January last year could be out of service for another four months, operator CalMac has said. The 32-year-old MV Caledonian Isles was forced out of action 18 months ago, leaving a hole in the timetable for the west coast ferries. CalMac has now said the vessel will return to dry dock for further repairs - which will likely take between eight weeks and four months - prompting a re-think of the winter timetable. The repair bill for the ferry, which has been side-lined from the Arran route since January 2024, has already risen to nearly £11m. Calmac said MV Caledonian Isles will enter drydock in Leith in the coming days for works to repair an issue with "instability in pitch response". The ferry will have its shaft lines removed for further investigation. This will take a minimum of eight weeks including sea trials. If this doesn't solve the problem - the retrofitting of a new system to improve the accuracy of the pitch input will be attempted. This would take four months. Duncan Mackison, CalMac CEO, 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. "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 ferry operator's winter timetable runs from 20 October to 26 March 2026, and its entire fleet undergoes annual maintenance between September and May each year. Return of Arran ferry delayed indefinitely CalMac bid to reclaim costs for fault-prone Arran ferry Last-minute hitch delays ferry's return after 18-month repairs
STV News
22-07-2025
- STV News
CalMac to re-draw winter plans as key ailing ferry out up to four more months
Scotland's west coast ferry operator has been forced to re-draw its winter plans after a ferry which has not sailed since January of last year could be out for four more months. The Caledonian Isles was forced out of action 18 months ago, leaving the route between Ardrossan in Ayrshire and Brodick on the Isle of Arran without a ferry. The newly-minted Glen Sannox – delivered vastly over budget and years late by the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow – is unable to dock at the Ayrshire port due to being too big. The Caledonian Isles was initially taken out of service for substantial work in January 2024, with costs expected to be around £5 million. However, a hull deformity was discovered after repairs at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside, which has had a knock-on effect on the ferry's return to service and prompted CalMac to seek to recover some of the almost £11 million in costs. But on Tuesday, the operator said the vessel would return to dry dock for further repairs which will likely take between eight weeks and four months, prompting a re-think of the winter timetable. CalMac chief executive Duncan Mackison 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. '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.' The Isle of Islay is due to enter service later this year, after having recently completed its second set of sea trials successfully at the shipyard in Turkey where it is being built. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The National
22-07-2025
- Business
- The National
CalMac to re-draw winter timetable as key ferry out for 4 more months
The Caledonian Isles was forced out of action 18 months ago, leaving the route between Ardrossan in Ayrshire and Brodick on the Isle of Arran without a ferry. The newly-minted Glen Sannox – delivered vastly over budget and years late by the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow – is unable to dock at the [[Ayr]]shire port due to being too big. READ MORE: Brewdog 'set to close 10 flagship bars' including in Scottish city The Caledonian Isles was initially taken out of service for substantial work in January 2024, with costs expected to be around £5 million. However, a hull deformity was discovered after repairs at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside, which has had a knock-on effect on the ferry's return to service and prompted CalMac to seek to recover some of the almost £11 million in costs. But on Tuesday, the operator said the vessel would return to dry dock for further repairs which will likely take between eight weeks and four months, prompting a re-think of the winter timetable. CalMac chief executive Duncan Mackison 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. '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.' The Isle of Islay is due to enter service later this year, after having recently completed its second set of sea trials successfully at the shipyard in Turkey where it is being built.
The Herald Scotland
22-07-2025
- 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
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Ferry fiasco vessel hits the water for the first time
MV Glen Rosa was pulled by the tugboat CMS Wrestler. The dual-fuel ferry is being built for Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) to serve the Arran route for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac). Port Glasgow firm [[Ferguson Marine]] announced last month that the second of the controversial ferries was on track to be delivered to [[CalMac]] next year. (Image: George Munro) MV Glen Rosa recently had funnel tops installed before moving to the dry dock. Contractors have also been on site at Ferguson's carrying out preliminary works for the ferry's mezzanine deck wire installation next month. The Ferguson CEO Graeme Thomson recently updated the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. He informed the committee that MV Glen Rosa was heading for the dry dock as part of the final stages of construction. READ MORE: Members of the committee are set to visit Ferguson Marine in the future to see the progress of MV Glen Rosa for themselves. The first of the new ferries MV Glen Sannox officially began taking passengers in January this year. Due to ongoing investigations with MV Caledonian Isles, [[CalMac]] previously announced there is no scheduled service to Arran operating from Ardrossan and Brodick between July 25 and September 7 . MV Glen Sannox and MV Alfred will operate Troon-Brodick until Sunday, September 7.
