CalMac have announced changes to their services that will see some routes combined in a bid to ‘meet the requirements’ of every island.

The ferry company has continually come under fire for the running of services to the islands and it has now decided to redeploy a number of boats to try and meet demand.

Already this week, it was revealed that ferry prices would be rising by 10 percent and now changes have been made across the entire network that will come into place on Friday, October 18 and run until at least Friday, November 15.

Vessels going for their annual maintenance as well as ongoing repairs to MV Caledonian Isles, one of the largest in its fleet, has been blamed for the changes.

The main one of those will see the services that operate to South Uist and Barra being combined.

A CalMac spokesperson said: “We know amending timetables and combining services is disruptive, but we’ve analysed carrying data and bookings for this upcoming period and these indicate a shared service for Barra and South Uist will meet capacity requirements.

“Our priority is to provide services which meet the minimum requirements for every island during this challenging period.” 

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Other changes will see the MV Hebridean Isles departing the Ardrossand-Broderick route to cover Stornoway and will be being replaced by MV Lord of the Isles and MV Alfred on the Arran routes.

CalMac is also bringing forward the majority of MV Caledonian Isles annual overhaul so the work can carried out while the overhaul of her port gearbox is ongoing.

The vessel will move to drydock on October 23 and is estimated to return to service on Wednesday, November 20.

A CalMac spokesperson added: “We want to make best use of the time we have with the vessel off-service and it is the prudent thing to do to carry out as much of this work as possible now. Whilst this does not alleviate service challenges in the short-term, we hope it will benefit us in the new year.” 

FULL CHANGES

  Arran (Ardrossan – Brodick and Troon – Brodick) 

 MV Hebridean Isles will have to depart for Stornoway to cover freight runs during MV Loch Seaforth’s overhaul. She will depart on Saturday 19 October.  

 MV Lord of the Isles will be redeployed to cover Ardrossan-Brodick services from Saturday 19 to Tuesday 22 October. MV Isle of Arran is on schedule to complete annual overhaul next week and will resume the service from Wednesday 23 October.  

 MV Alfred will continue to operate Troon-Brodick. This two-vessel service will remain in place up to and including Friday 15 November.  

 Islay (Kennacraig – Port Ellen / Port Askaig) 

There is no change to the published timetable for Islay services. MV Finlaggan will operate a single vessel timetable from Friday 18 October. MV Lord of the Isles will operate an additional sailing from Port Ellen to Kennacraig at 0700 on Friday 18 October. 

The vessel will then reposition to Arran to cover the Ardrossan-Brodick run until MV Isle of Arran returns from annual overhaul. MV Hebridean Isles will cover freight services on Ullapool-Stornoway.  

 Mull (Oban – Craignure) 

 There are no changes to published timetables for Mull with a single vessel MV Loch Frisa service until Wednesday 23 October. However, MV Lord of the Isles will now cover services from Wednesday 23 October until Tuesday 5 November instead of MV Isle of Arran. This is to allow MV Isle of Arran to cover Ardrossan-Brodick services in the absence of MV Caledonian Isles. MV Lord of the Isles departs for annual overhaul after services on Tuesday 5 November and the route will return to single vessel MV Loch Frisa until Friday 15 November.  

 MV Isle of Mull will operate a combined service to South Uist and Barra from Friday 18 October until Friday 15 November.  

 Barra (Oban – Castlebay) 

MV Isle of Mull releases MV Isle of Lewis to cover MV Loch Seaforth’s annual overhaul from Saturday 19 October. Barra services will now operate as a shared timetable with Lochboisdale up until Friday 15 November.

 South Uist (Oban – Lochboisdale) 

MV Isle of Mull releases MV Isle of Lewis to cover MV Loch Seaforth’s annual overhaul from Saturday 19 October. South Uist services will now operate as a shared timetable with Castlebay up until Friday 15 November.

Harris & Lewis (Ullapool-Stornoway) 

MV Loch Seaforth will operate an additional roundtrip on the morning of Sunday 20 October before departing for annual overhaul. MV Isle of Lewis picks up an early freight service at 1400 from Stornoway on Sunday 20 October.  

MV Hebridean Isles will cover the freight service. However, as a result of the vessel operating on the Ardrossan – Brodick service until the end of Friday 18 October, she will not be in position to operate the freight service on Sunday evening. Service will instead commence from Monday 21 October at 1700 from Stornoway. MV Loch Seaforth will resume passenger and freight services on Sunday 13 November when she returns from annual overhaul.