CalMac lifeline services have been plunged into fresh turmoil with a further postponement of the return of a key vessel, the breakdown of another - and uncertainty over a date for the arrival of a delayed £1m-a-month relief ferry.
It has been confirmed that MV Clansman, which was on Tuesday expected to return to pick up Harris and North Uist sailings, is still out of action.
And the Scottish Government-owned ferry operator has again held back putting regular vessel MV Hebrides in for its annual overhaul to await its return.
There is also no date for the delayed arrival of an 'emergency' charter ferry MV Alfred to support the ageing CalMac fleet.
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It is now hoped that MV Clansman which has been out of action for months with technical problems will complete sea trials on Tuesday and take over from MV Hebrides on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Scots firms get nothing from £220m ferry deals given to Turkey
There is still no date for the arrival of the relief ferry MV Alfred which was due to join the fleet from April 18 when she was to undertake berthing trials before being made available for service.
Last month ministers sanctioned a spend of £9m to charter the 'emergency' vessel for nine months in the wake of continuing disruption to lifeline ferry services.
The vessel which is at the centre of a crash investigation dating back to the summer of last year, will be chartered from Pentland Ferries who will operate services on behalf of CalMac.
Critics called it a "panicked decision".
It has been operating services on the Orkney to Caithness route in place of the Pentland Ferries vessel, MV Pentalina.
A number of "issues" had delayed the safety certificate for the return of MV Pentalina, delaying MV Alfred's deployment on CalMac services.
Last Wednesday MV Pentalina was granted a temporary passenger ship safety certificate (PSSC) by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), allowing it to carry passengers and vehicles.
The MCA said further inspections would be needed before a full safety certificate could be issued.
READ MORE: 'It shouldn't be relied on': 40-year-old CalMac ferry makes a return
Meanwhile services between Craignure on the Isle of Mull and Oban were disrupted after technical problems with another ferry.
Four sailings between Craignure on the Isle of Mull and Oban were cancelled on Monday morning due to an issue with MV Isle of Mull – the larger of the two vessels operating on the route.
CalMac said on Monday afternoon that following sea trials, she had returned to service, but warned of potential further disruption "due to the requirement for continued monitoring".
CalMac has already warned that with MV Coruisk providing support the service was "running with reduced capacity". It told users: "We strongly recommend foot passengers book ahead where possible to be accommodated on your preferred sailing."
Concerns over the Clansman and other ferry issues led to calls for "emergency provision" for long-suffering Uist islanders who at one point had no certainty of ferry services last weekend left in the wake of continuing issues with vessel deployment.
Transport minister Kevin Stewart had been accused of rejecting calls for compensation to businesses who it is feared are going to go under in the latest "unprecedented" wave of disruption.
MV Clansman has remained out of action weeks after the summer timetable on April 1 began and after months on the sidelines for repairs.
CalMac had previously confirmed further disruption and cancellations would hit North Uist this weekend as the MV Hebrides headed off for annual repairs on the same day its replacement MV Clansman was predicted to complete longstanding repairs.
Urgent discussions were held after further concern that no vessel has been assigned to cover the vital Skye Triangle route which runs from Uig on Skye to Lochmaddy on the North Uist. CalMac then decided to delay MV Hebrides' overhaul.
Issues with ferry deployment is already meaning that sailings between the mainland and South Uist have been cancelled on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Services between Mallaig/Oban and Lochboisdale on South Uist had been disrupted since April 5 and were expected to continue till May 13.
But at the start of April CalMac said it would be able to maintain a service to South Uist from Oban until at least 16 April. That all changed last Monday in the new wave of cuts to services expected to last till May 12.
In order to provide a connection for Uist traffic, CalMac said it was offering additional services to the Sound of Barra.
One ferry user group official said the continuing uncertainty over the resilience of the ageing ferry network was a "continuing bad dream" which had to be sorted as "a matter of urgency".
"The fact that we have no date for the arrival of MV Alfred and it is unclear what routes it is even able to operate on to support the network is a concern," he said. "The only way to solve the issues is to build up resilience with proper vessel support."
CalMac admitted that they do not know which routes the catamaran will be able to operate on until berthing trials are complete, which will take place once Pentland Ferries hand over MV Alfred.
Stornoway-born Rhoda Grant, the Scottish Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands said last week there needed to be "immediate action to improve the situation regarding ferry services in light of recent reports of unprecedented disruption".
Uist has been badly hit by a series of disruptions because of ferry failures for over a year.
Lochboisdale, the port which links South Uist to the mainland was out of action to ferries between September 24 and October 8 to allow for repairs to the linkspan used by the ferry.
A routine annual inspection by specialist engineers and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which owns the ferry terminal, revealed a number of lifting ropes on the linkspan which need to be replaced at the earliest opportunity. Last year’s inspections showed no issues.
In August, islanders complained that shops had to ration essential items amid widespread ferry cancellations.
It all comes just two days a island ferry service had to be suspended after an engine failure with a CalMac vessels that was due to be phased out.
CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond warned earlier this month that the next one or two years “will be challenging” due to the age of the country’s fleet.
There are four ferries being built in Turkey, along with Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed hull 802, which have faced major delays and cost overruns during construction at the Scottish Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow.
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