More problems have been uncovered on the Caledonian Isles, including further steelwork that needs to be replaced and damage to both stern tube bearings. CalMac have abandoned any hope of the ship returning to service this winter, and are now planning on the assumption that she won’t be in service until summer timetables start in late March.
Together with the loss of the Hebridean Isles, delay to the arrival of the new Isle of Islay from Turkey and still no confirmed date for the handover of the Glen Sannox, CalMac are running out of deployment options.
This week an options paper was circulated to community reps across the network, laying out three deployment options. In the case of Craignure – Oban however, all three options are the same. There is no longer a vessel available to operate alongside the Frisa for any period between now and late March.
The final deployment decisions for the rest of the network will be made by Monday 11th, and those with bookings will begin to be contacted next week. But whatever the decisions for elsewhere in the network, “Frisa Solo” is the only option on the table for Mull (except for March 8th – 27th, when the Frisa goes to dry-dock and the IOM will run the service).
As a small mitigation, CalMac say they should be able to add a return sailing early on Wednesday and Friday mornings operated by the Clansman or LOTI.
Should there be any dry-dock delays or other breakdowns over the winter, CalMac’s possible next steps will be extremely limited. Further degradation to Craignure – Oban is highly unlikely however, since the Loch Frisa can’t operate from any other ports.
