Calmac issued a service alert today, bringing the 21:45 ex Oban forward to 20:00 and cancelling the 06:45 ex Craignure. This is because the Master is unable to stay overnight in Craignure in even moderate SE winds due to the sub-optimal mooring configuration.
When this has occurred in the past, we have been insistent that a re-positioning service should run the following morning, so that the 06:45 is not affected. However, this is not possible on the Friday/Saturday overnight service, because working time limits are already at their maximum on Saturday. So if the late Friday sailing is cancelled due to weather, the early morning Saturday sailing will be unable to run regardless of weather conditions at the time.
Re-positioning is possible on Saturday/Sunday over night services, and has been promised should it be necessary.
We have asked for cancellation statistics for the winter overnight sailings – both are becoming very unreliable. We will publish them as soon as we get them.
Representing the users of our lifeline ferry services