Today we learned that the MV Isle of Mull will again be used to operate services between Oban and Lochboisdale, this time for a period of two weeks from 12th – 26th May. Coupled to this, the Corran ferry is not expected to be operational until sometime in June. During that period, we will have the Coruisk / Loch Frisa pairing.
CalMac continue to struggle with multiple dry-dock delays, and the Hebridean Isles remains laid up, without being properly in service for around four months. They face very difficult decisions and have to find imaginative solutions to meet the demands of each island. Previous re-deployment of the Isle of Mull has been unavoidable, in order for less well-connected islands than Mull to maintain a service.
But in this instance there has been no prior consultation, and we have no idea what options and mitigations have been considered. Coupled with the Corran outage and the approach of peak summer season, imposition of this service reduction without any prior consultation is intolerable.
What is the Alfred doing during this period? Can it operate to Islay and release the Isle of Arran? Could the Alfred operate between Mallaig and Lochboisdale, reducing the need for a service to Oban? Is it necessary that the Isle of Mull runs to Lochboisdale every day? Since the absence of a Corran ferry compromises the Lochaline service so much, would it make more sense for the Lochinvar to operate to Oban instead, leaving a smaller spare vessel to fill-in? It’s not just vehicle space that will be insufficient, so how about re-deploying either the Alicat or Argyll flyer (foot passenger vessels from the Clyde), to work alongside the Coruisk and Frisa? And what about demand management? With limited capacity, will food deliveries and essential vehicles be prioritised?
We have posed all these questions to CalMac. There may be reasonable answers to them all, but we don’t even know if they have been considered. If any reasonable mitigation can be found we will keep you posted.