Welcome back hit by second boat delay
Arran is to lose its second boat at the start of its most important summer season as the island tries to recover from the pandemic.
Just as much of the tourist industry was getting ready to open on Monday, came the crushing blow that the MV Isle of Arran will not begin service as planned next Thursday and is likely to be nearly a week late.
With many passengers already booked, this could cause widespread travel disruption as alternative arrangements are offered and already some businesses are reporting cancelled bookings. It has thrown a shadow over what is looking like a bumper start to the summer season as many shops, hotels, restaurants, cafes, B&Bs and self-catering providers prepare to open their doors to visitors again.
The delay is because the MV Isle of Arran has temporarily taken over the overnight freight run on the Stornoway-Ullapool route while the MV
Loch Seaforth is being repaired.
Specialist engineers are currently working on the Loch Seaforth engines in Greenock and she will be back in service as soon as possible.
This will mean the MV Caledonian Isles will continue to operate alone on the Ardrossan-Brodick route after the start of the summer until a timescale for repairs has been confirmed. Additional capacity will be provided by doubling up sailings on the Claonaig-Lochranza route during this time.
Passengers who have already booked sailings between Ardrossan and Brodick during this period will be offered alternative sailings as a priority CalMac say. But they admit space will be limited on April 30 and May 1.
The ferry service to Campbeltown, which was set to restart on April 29, has been suspended to accommodate essential demand elsewhere.
These changes were made by using a route prioritisation process which allows CalMac to move ferries around to where demand is most needed when there is extra pressure on the network.
The possibility of hiring a vessel on a temporary basis has been explored but none are available at short notice.
This includes the Pentalina, which is not going to be free for a number of weeks. Robbie Drummond, managing director of CalMac, said: ‘It is vital that a freight service is provided on the Stornoway-Ullapool route and this movement of vessels is necessary to provide this.
‘This situation is far from ideal, and we apologise for how these changes will affect passengers. We will endeavour to offer alternative sailings to everyone who has already booked tickets between Ardrossan and Brodick. ‘We know how disruptive this will be for customers and we will keep everyone informed of any further developments. Thank you for your patience at this time,’ he added.
At the Seal Shore campsite in Kildonan, Maurice Deighton says he may lose as many as half his motorhome bookings over the coming days.
He said: ‘These are regular customers who had to cancel last year because of the pandemic. Now they can’t come because CalMac can’t run the ferries properly. I have cut numbers at the campsite to comply with all the social distancing requirements, but I could have done without this at the start of what I hope will be a good season.’