£42m ferry breaks down following refit
A MULTI-MILLION pound ferry broke down yesterday on its first day back in service following a refit.
The MV Loch Seaforth, the newest ferry in the CalMac fleet, was stranded in Stornoway with engine problems.
The £42million vessel had just returned to service after a two-week refit at a shipyard in Birkenhead on Merseyside. It also broke down last year when it was halfway between Stornoway, on Lewis, and Ross-shire, leaving 343 passengers and crew stranded.
CalMac was unable to say last night how long the state-of-the-art vessel would be out of commission.
The ferry, which entered service in 2015, was bought from Lloyds Banking Group for an undisclosed amount by the Scottish Government last month.
Lloyds had financed the building of the Seaforth in Germany and leased it to Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, which is Scottish Government-owned, since the vessel was completed.
Under the initial deal, the ferry would have cost taxpayers at least £67million by 2022, but the bank would still have owned it.
Transport chiefs at first kept details of the taxpayer-funded lease deal secret but last year it emerged the eight-year deal would cost around £36million, on top of £31million spent on port upgrades.
A CalMac spokesman said: ‘A technical issue continues to keep the MV Loch Seaforth out of service. We are employing all resources to try to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience.’
Several other ferries in CalMac’s fleet are out of service, which meant the breakdown has left the islands of Barra and Uist without a mainland service.
The ferry operator said it will be later today before it could confirm when services will return to normal.
CalMac is also waiting for two new ferries to be completed by Ferguson Marine on the Clyde. The Port Glasgow yard was contracted to deliver both boats by July 2018 for £97million but hit financial problems.
The Scottish Government has bought the yard but has yet to announce a delivery schedule for the vessels.