CALMAC has said unforeseen ferry faults have been partly to blame for disruption to lifeline services which has resulted in islanders raising concerns about empty food shelves.
The state-controlled ferry operator CalMac has said it was "disheartening" to hear of island communities suffering from the diruption to service and was doing all it could to reduce the impact.
Western Isles council leaders warned a lack of resilience in the ferry fleet was hitting the delivery of essentials to the islands.
Alasdair Allan, the SNP MSP for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency said the situation was "completely unacceptable".
"And the longer we need to keep waiting for new vessels, the more detrimental the impact on island residents and businesses becomes," he said.
“While the weather conditions are not the fault of CalMac, this situation once again calls into question the fleet’s resilience. Local shops should not be having to put up with absorbing significant financial losses as fresh produce goes to waste due to it being unable to reach its destination on time.
“Disruption on this scale represents a real threat to the livelihoods of island residents, further making the case for there to be more vessels in the Calmac fleet, and for additional ferries secured as soon as possible to act as relief vessels in situations such as this.”
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the council covering the Western Isles has accused senior management of state-controlled CalMac of deciding to “hunker down” away from the islands and breaking a promise to engage with the local authority.
It comes as it emerged problems with the starboard main engine of the 21-year-old MV Hebrides has meant that the suspension of services to and from Uig on Skye will last till Sunday. Engineers were carrying out repairs on the vessel which can carry 612 passengers and 90 cars on Thursday and CalMac said they were continuing to investigate "contengency plans".
It was hoped that MV Hebrides would return to service on Monday.
On Friday four lifeline services were suspended by 3pm partly due to weather and partly due to the MV Hebrides breakdown, after three on Thursday and eight the previous day.
CalMac posted images of what it called "severe weather conditions in the Outer Hebrides".
A substantial amount of emergent steelwork has also been discovered on another of the fleet's elderly statesman, the 25-year-old MV Clansman in dry dock, and this has delayed her return by three weeks.
CalMac responded with detail of what it was doing to resolve the issues and posted images of the conditions it has been faced with.
"We are now well into the third week of extreme and unprecedented weather conditions - one of the longest periods of very poor weather and high significant wave height for many years," the ferry operator said.
READ MORE: CalMac chief admits to 'stress' over managing ageing ferry fleet
"We are experiencing technical faults with some vessels that require urgent repair. In addition, some of our statutory annual overhauls are delayed, while engineers solve unforeseen issues presented during detailed surveys. "Although the effect of Covid-19 on our staff has eased since December, it is still a factor in day-to-day life and is having an impact on our colleagues, and in turn some of our services.
"Operating on the edge of the North Atlantic basin means that we are exposed to some of the worst weather and sea conditions in the UK.
"A prolonged period of very poor weather has been prevalent across the network over the last few weeks. Our masters are experienced in making detailed assessments of weather conditions on each route, and in some cases, they have reported conditions the likes of which we have not experienced for many years. At times, this has made sailings impossible - the safety of our customers and our seafaring crew must come first.
"Together, these factors are creating a challenging picture for our customers and CalMac. Some communities have been without a ferry service for a number of days and the impact this can have on lives and livelihoods is at the forefront of our minds and the decisions we need to make."
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar said even when the weather was not bad, ferry breakdowns and delays to new ferries left island communities vulnerable.
The council's transport committee chairman, Uisdean Robertson, said it has left shops running short on essential food.
"We have been warning for some time that we should expect problems," he said.
"We are just going from day to day at the moment in terms of how long it will take to repair the Hebrides," he said.
Mr Robertson said further delays to new ferries could mean problems continuing for another two to three years.
CalMac said it was "focused" on returning those vessels which are currently off, back to service as soon as possible.
"Where other technical issues emerge, our aim is always to repair with the vessel in service," the fery operator said.
"Overhaul is an essential part of our maintenance schedule, required to maintain statutory certification and to reduce the risk of technical problems emerging in service. While the schedule continues, we are working at pace to complete repair work.
CalMac posted an image of MV Clansman engine room works in dry dock
"We are also reorganising the programme of overhauls to reduce the impact this work is having at this time. For instance, MV Finlaggan's scheduled docking has now been moved Dales in Greenock to keep her maintenance plan on schedule.
"While we can't control other factors like weather, we do have a committed team working hard to reduce the impact on communities and customers wherever we can. For example, our crew monitor the situation and respond to limited weather windows by operating untimetabled services whenever they can do so safely."
Earlier this week it emerged issues with short cabling were expected to add further delay and increase costs over the already put back delivery of two green vessels at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco.
The ferry destined to serve the Isle of Arran will be delayed even further after a “blunder” with internal cabling was discovered.
Both Glen Sannox (Hull 801) and Hull 802, being built at the nationalised Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, rely on a “complex network” of more than 9800 cables.
The cost of both vessels has doubled to around £200m while their delivery is nearly five years late.
CalMac added: "We will continue to work with local communities to ensure their priorities around the transportation of goods and services are understood and supported. Our dedicated frontline staff are talking every day to our regular customers to make sure that essential goods and services are being moved.
"We understand how much our customers and the communities we serve rely on ferry services. Getting ferries working as they should be is our absolute priority, and we thank you for your patience and understanding at what we know is a really difficult time."
Transport Scotland said Scottish ministers, and the board of David MacBrayne Limited, were listening to islanders.
A spokesman said: "Ministers recognise that a lack of confidence in ferry services can impact upon people's decision on whether to live and work on the islands, and impacts upon the sustainability of the island communities themselves.
"These human impacts are at the heart of Scottish ministers' commitment to supporting lifeline services through continued investment in ferry services across Scotland."
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