This article appears as part of the Scotland's Ferries newsletter.
It is one of Scottish Government-owned ferry operator CalMac's oldest and biggest vessels and the first to be launched by royalty.
But MV Hebridean Isles remains sidelined after over nine months of problems and a number of false dawns after supporting one of the busiest of CalMac's lifeline island ferry services, to and from Arran.
In the last of a number of progress checks, the vessel was due to be back in service at the end of August – after having been taken off the network due to a fault with its control system.
But the issues appeared to have been more fundamental than first thought.
It has now emerged that following maintenance of the starboard main engine and a controllable pitch propellor shafting, during dry docking in Aberdeen, the vessel was floated and moved to a layby berth on Sunday.
A programme of harbour, sea, and berthing trials is currently being undertaken before any decision over when or if it will return is made.
The winter timetables launched in mid-September have been planned without the vessel which CalMac says is normally the "backbone" of the relief programme during the annual overhaul of the fleet. They said at that point there were "ongoing investigations and uncertainty" over the vessel.
It comes after a raft of issues in the last week with the ageing ferry fleet – the latest of which has hit the sole ferry to Brodick on Arran – the MV Caledonian Isles.
A problem with its hydraulic system has led to cancellations on Wednesday afternoon while a review of its status was expected later. CalMac said repairs had been completed and was due to resume with the 4.40pm departure from Brodick.
Five of the fleet was unable to sail at one point on Tuesday due to an ongoing run of technical issues.
But there has been wide speculation over whether MV Hebridean Isles – which was launched by the Duchess of Kent – will actually make a return.
Similar talk surrounds the two vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco which it emerged will have to carry nearly 300 passengers fewer than contracted for to meet safety standards.
The much-delayed and over-budget lifeline ferries Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa were both due to hold up to 1000 passengers when they eventually came into service.
But to secure a safety certification and approvals from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy, the maximum carrying capacity is to be cut to 852.
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A ferry user group official said that the continuing absence of MV Hebridean Isles raises doubt over whether it would return, but questioned whether it should be relied on.
"I have always said that we should not be relying on ferries of the age of MV Hebridean Isles and I stand by that. There have been problems with it now since last Christmas so there has to be a fear over at the very least its reliability even if it ever does make a return."
The issues with MV Hebridean Isles emerged on Boxing Day when it was withdrawn from the busy Arran route to undergo repairs to a bow visor seal.
Further issues were registered three days later and on January 3 it was withdrawn again while the other vessel on the service to Brodick, MV Caledonian Isles, was offline for an annual overhaul, limiting islanders to a one-vessel service.
Five days later, after repairs were complete, it remained sidelined due to a new issue with the bow visor locking mechanism while it was not expected back in action till at least February.
By January 10, MV Catriona was shifted from the Tarbert to Portavadie to provide support on the service to Arran's other port Lochranza. User groups say that led to suspension of services between Tarbert on Kintyre and Portavadie on the Cowal peninsula for nearly a week.
MV Hebridean Isles was eventually removed from the CalMac firing line completely on February 16 meaning freight services providing vital supplies to Arran from Troon were suspended.
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By March, the Hebridean Isles, which had been operating on what is one of the west coast's most popular routes to and from Arran, was in Birkenhead for repairs and it remained out when the summer timetable began in April.
By May 6, the vessel was holed up in Ayr with a pitch propellor issue and by the end of the month it was forced into dry dock as it was hit with issues with her controllable pitch propellors which affected vessel manoeuvrability.
Its disappearance was key to a decision to cut ferry services for longsuffering islanders on South Uist for nearly all of June.
While it was hoped that MV Hebridean Isles would be back before the end of June, it later emerged it was expected to remain out of action until July 27 at the earliest as work continued on a pitch propellor.
By the end of July, it emerged it would remain sidelined up to and including August 24, following unsuccessful attempts to fix manoeuvrability issues with the vessel and after "extensive sea and berthing trials".
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