Two ferries between Craignure and Oban all winter-long… and other news

CalMac have confirmed that for the first time since the Loch Frisa’s introduction in 2022, she will be joined by the required second vessel for the whole of this coming winter (save for 4 days in March). After three years of ‘Frisa only’ and timetables chopping and changing, we can have some confidence that CalMac will be able to deliver reliable service.

This improvement is finally possible thanks to the introduction of four new vessels by the end of this year (Glen Sannox and Isle of Islay already in service, Loch Indaal and Lochmor due for delivery soon). A further two new vessels will arrive early in 2027 – the much-delayed Glen Rosa, and the final vessel of the Turkish quartet – MV Claymore.

Winter timetables are available to view now as PDFs on the CalMac website (here), but sailings will not be available to book online until August 4th. Here’s a summary of the planned deployment for Craignure – Oban:

• MV Isle of Arran and MV Loch Frisa operating from 19 October until 27 December
• MV Isle of Mull and MV Loch Frisa between 28 December and 12 March
• MV Isle of Mull between 13 March and 16 March
• MV Isle of Mull and MV Coruisk for the remainder of winter timetable

Island Business Resilience Fund – round three

A third round of the IBRF has been announced by the FM, with a £10m budget. Rounds 1 and 2 were together allocated £4.4 million. Initially open to only a small number of islands, protests from MIFC and others resulted in it being opened up to the majority of Hebridean islands.

Before the terms of the fund are set, the government is holding four online engagement sessions. This gives the opportunity for businesses who have been affected by the ferry crisis to influence how and where it is distributed. (another improvement on the original scheme, which was explicitly launched without any prior consultation).

The first fund was only open to tourist-related and fresh-food businesses that were islander-owned. Other exclusions prevented the smallest businesses from applying, and all awards had a ceiling placed on them. If your business has been negatively impacted by the ferry crisis, this is your opportunity to make sure that this compensation scheme meets your needs. You can book a place on one of the four sessions using the links below.

• Thursday 16 July, 14:00 – 15:00 – book now
• Tuesday 21 July, 15:00 – 16:00 – book now 
• Wednesday 22 July, 09:30 – 10:30 – book now
• Tuesday 28 July, 10:00 – 11:00 – book now

Don’t forget the Deck Space Priority Pilot

Whilst we wait for Transport Scotland to develop plans for a fully-fledged ‘Samso style’ islander priority system, the priority pilot continues to operate.

As a reminder of how it works:

• Only 90% of car deck space is initially available for sale.
• Exactly 72 hours before sailing time, the final 10% is released.
• That roughly equates to 3 car spaces on each Loch Frisa sailing, and 6 car spaces on each Isle of Mull sailing.
• The intention is to keep a small number of spaces available for late purchase by island residents who may need to travel for a shopping trip, a hospital visit, a family event or for any trip they cannot reasonably plan far in advance.
• Please don’t misuse the scheme. In particular, it is not for use by non-resident holiday-makers.

If you have any problems buying vehicle tickets on the sailing of your choice, and you need to travel for medical or compassionate reasons (eg a hospital appointment or a funeral), please contact us, and we will do our best to help you. CalMac staff are always keen to help, but knowledge of the medical priority scheme and the deck space pilot is not always as good as it could be (particularly in the Gourock call centre). So if you have any problems, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We still hear of people missing hospital appointments because they cannot get their car on the ferry – that should never happen. Every time we have intervened on behalf of passengers in those circumstances, we have found CalMac keen to put things right – so please just drop us a line.