MV Isle of Mull due back on Sunday – but only if the Caledonian Isles is fixed.

Last night we were told about CalMac’s contingency plans should the Caledonian Isles fail to have its latest mechanical issue fixed. The upshot for Mull is that the IOM would be re-deployed to Lochboisdale, leaving us with the Coruisk into July. A final decision will be made “early next week”, once the outcome of ongoing investigations into the Cale Isles’ continuing propulsion problems are concluded. The full text of CalMac’s communication is below.

We have asked CalMac to:

• Have the IOM call into Craignure on both the outward and return legs from Lochboisdale, and for as many displaced travellers as possible to be transferred to it.
• Put a second vessel on the Lochaline-Fishnish service to cope with the extra traffic.
• To contact all affected passengers and actively encourage them to use the Lochaline-Fishnish route instead.
• To include in that advice a guarantee that vehicles presenting at Lochaline or Fishnish will be carried (which should be possible if a second vessel is added)

We will update as soon as we have any news.

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CalMac’s communication:

I am following up on our last update on MV Caledonian Isles from last week to share further details of our deployment plans should the vessel not return by 07 July, when MV Alfred will go off service for two weeks of essential maintenance. Below are our plans for having MV Caledonian Isles back, and plans for not having it. 

Both deployment plans will involve some level of disruption on multiple islands, and we apologise for this. 

Service plan – no MV Caledonian Isles 

We have developed the following deployment plan based on not having MV Caledonian Isles on Ardrossan-Brodick by then.  

Area	Route	Vessel
Arran	Ardrossan-Brodick	MV Isle of Arran
	Troon-Brodick	MV Glen Sannox
Islay	Kennacraig – Islay	MV Finlaggan MV Lord of the Isles (other than 9-11 July)
Mull	Oban-Craignure	MV Coruisk MV Loch Frisa
Barra	Castlebay-Oban	MV Isle of Lewis
Coll/Tiree	Oban-Coll / Tiree	MV Clansman
Colonsay	Oban-Colonsay	MV Clansman MV Lord of the Isles (Wed and Sat)
South Uist	Oban/Mallaig-Lochboisdale	MV Isle of Mull
Skye	Mallaig-Armadale	MV Loch Fyne
Little Minch	Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy	MV Hebrides
Lewis	Ullapool-Stornoway	MV Loch Seaforth

This plan will see the following vessel cascade: 

• MV Isle of Arran redeployed to Ardrossan-Brodick, to operate alongside MV Glen Sannox (Troon-Brodick) to Arran 
• MV Lord of the Isles redeployed from Mallaig/Oban-Lochboisdale to Kennacraig-Islay, covering MV Isle of Arran 
• MV Isle of Mull will operate an Oban-Lochboisdale service, and supplement Oban-Craignure services wherever possible 
• During this period we may need to amend some sailing times across the network to avoid berth clashes 

Service plan – with MV Caledonian Isles  

MV Caledonian Isles will continue to conduct sea trials for the next few days. Progress has been made recently, with the issue in the propeller hub resolved. We have remote and on-site support in place with Kongsberg, the manufacturer, to continue to work on the issue with the offset in pitch response and engine loads for both the Port and Starboard engines. 

Arrangements have been made for drydock, should it still be required, following these trials. 

In terms of the service plan between 07 July and 21 July if MV Caledonian Isles is back, we’d see the following: 

Area	Route	Vessel
Arran	Ardrossan-Brodick	MV Caledonian Isles
	Troon-Brodick	MV Glen Sannox
Islay	Kennacraig – Islay	MV Finlaggan MV Isle of Arran
Mull	Oban-Craignure	MV Isle of Mull (other than 9-11 July) MV Coruisk (9-11 July) MV Loch Frisa
Barra	Castlebay-Oban	MV Isle of Lewis
Coll/Tiree	Oban-Coll / Tiree	MV Clansman
Colonsay	Oban-Colonsay	MV Clansman MV Lord of the Isles (Wed and Sat)
South Uist	Oban/Mallaig-Lochboisdale	MV Lord of the Isles (other than 9-11 July) MV Isle of Mull (9-11 July)
Skye	Mallaig-Armadale	MV Coruisk (other than 9-11 July) MV Loch Fyne
Little Minch	Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy	MV Hebrides
Lewis	Ullapool-Stornoway	MV Loch Seaforth

Next steps 

We are not moving customers or bookings to this new deployment plan yet.  

Given progress has been made with resolving the issues on MV Caledonian Isles, we will confirm early next week (w/b 30 June) whether we are moving to this new deployment plan or not. At this stage, customers who are booked will be moved.  

During this upcoming period, we may have to amend some sailings across the network to avoid berthing clashes. 

If MV Caledonian Isles is able to return to service by 07 July, then no current bookings will be affected and the deployment plan will be as it currently is.      Thank you to you and the community you represent for your support and understanding as we work through this.