Ferry error
Firstly, I would like to correct an error in your article regarding the MV Utne in last week’s edition. Rather than carrying ‘four times as many’ cars and passengers than the Coruisk she replaces, she has a lower capacity.
Rather than a typical full load of 35 cars for the Coruisk, it is anticipated the Utne will carry 34. Rather than carrying the Coruisk’s 250 passengers, the Utne will carry 195, or perhaps a few more if extra seats can be squeezed in. The Utne is also slower and crossing times will lengthen by around five minutes.
The key benefit the Utne offers is an improved winter timetable, by running additional services at the beginning and the end of the day in addition to those operated by the Isle of Mull. We have long campaigned for this ‘island focused’ service and to finally have it delivered is fantastic news for the island.
This small seven-year-old second-hand ferry is not a panacea. It enables some shuffling of vessels in summer that brings benefits to other routes and will improve our winter service. But the summer congestion we have suffered this year – resulting in islanders being unable to travel off the island unless they book weeks in advance – will only worsen.
It is difficult not to compare the Utne with the catamaran we tried to persuade CMAL to purchase, but was ultimately rejected on spurious grounds.
The catamaran was far more capable, being able to operate to any port in the network; the Utne is only certified for Mull, Armadale and the Clyde. The catamaran was far bigger and would have fixed our summer congestion problem - 80 car spaces rather than 34. The catamaran was faster and better suited to Craignure pier; the passenger access system would have fitted, unlike the Utne. It would have been able to cope with worse weather - four metre waves as compared with the Utne’s 2.5. All round, the catamaran was far better value for money.
She would also have had a much bigger impact on network-wide resilience by entirely releasing the MV Isle of Mull in winter, giving CalMac a spare vessel. The Utne, by comparison, is far too small to operate the Mull service on her own, so the Isle of Mull has to stay on the route alongside her. This also means that should the Isle of Mull be used for emergency relief service, which is now more likely, Mull will be left with one under-sized and weather-vulnerable vessel.
The decision to buy the Utne but not the catamaran is as baffling as it is frustrating. But the Utne does offer significant winter benefits and we welcome them.
The summer, however, can only get worse with the introduction of the Utne.
There is a solution to that, however. As well as taking a ferry from the Norwegian ferry system, government should take a lesson too. Many Norwegian ferries operate 18 or 20 hours per day. Thanks to having small crews that live ashore rather than on the vessel, they can operate shift systems that enable far more crossings over a longer operating day. Like Norway, we could have sailings from 6am till midnight. Not only would that give us far more opportunities to travel, it would go a long way to overcoming the very small capacity of the Utne.
We have written to Transport Minister Graeme Dey to urge that the Utne follows a Norwegian-style crewing regime so that the full potential of this vessel can be felt. We very much hope the answer is positive.
Joe Reade, Chairman, Mull & Iona Ferry Committee.