Ferry chaos after engine blows up
Travel plans were thrown into chaos this week after the engine of the MV Isle of Arran blew up in a pall of thick black smoke putting her out of service for two weeks.
The ferry will not be back in service until the middle of next week, at the earliest, leaving the Brodick to Ardrossan route struggling to cope with just one ferry with the school holidays fast approaching.
Caledonian MacBrayne said this week that the damage caused by the incident had been significant but that it was ‘doing everything it can’ to get the ferry back into service.
At the Isle of Arran ferry committee this week, a CalMac official frankly admitted: ‘The engine blew up,’ leading to the latest cancellation of services of the 33-year-old ferry.
In a statement, CalMac commented said: ‘The engineering team have completed stripped down the thruster engine and the damage caused by the incident last week has been significant to her bow thruster engine.
‘Assessment of the spares required has been completed and these are now being obtained from across the UK and Europe in order to be able to rebuild the engine. Unfortunately, given the scale of the damage and the time required to bring the spares to the Clyde, it is unlikely the vessel will be able to return to service before the middle of next week.
‘We continue to clear traffic from both sides and the Loch Bhrusda continues to be on standby at Lochranza should she be required. We will continue to monitor traffic on the route and if
necessary we will man the slips. We are continuing to contact passengers who were planning to travel on the MV Isle of Arran and are encouraging them to travel either as foot passengers or to travel via Lochranza. This message is being reinforced on social media and our website.’
The service of the MV Isle of Arran ended in a heavy burst of black smoke last week as she broke down in Brodick Bay. The dramatic moment came around 3.30pm last Wednesday June 7 just as the ferry left Brodick with a full load of cars and passengers.
The ferry was just swinging out of the pier when it suddenly stopped and thick smoke could be seen belching from the front end.
Sailings cancelled
She was able a short time later to limp back into port and finally left more than an hour later. All sailings were thereafter cancelled when the ship went to Garvel dry dock in Greenock, where she has remained since.
‘Passengers were never at risk and noone was injured. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,’ the CalMac spokesman added.