South Uist passengers to be hit by four weeks of distruptions
South Uist residents will still face major ferry disruption this month, despite a shorter cancellation period than planned for the service to the mainland.
CalMac announced last week that Mallaig/ObanLochboisdale services would be cancelled for five weeks from this Wednesday, but this disruption has now been delayed until April 17.
This is because the MV Finlaggan’s overhaul has been delayed, meaning the South Uist service can be maintained from Oban by the MV Isle of Mull, before she is relocated.
CalMac chief executive, Robbie Drummond, said: “Our service continues to be affected by delays to the annual overhaul schedule and its subsequent impact on vessel deployment. Although we will maintain Lochboisdale services until April 16, we are currently unable to confirm that services for the period April 17-May 12 will be possible, as MV Isle of Mull is required to relieve MV Loch Frisa on Oban-Craignure services. However, we are working hard to continue to explore options for service provision during this time. We apologise for the disruption this is causing, particularly at the start of the tourist season. We are in the process of contacting customers who were previously impacted and will continue to keep customers updated.”
Additional daily connections to Barra from South Uist will operate during the cancellations, but Na h-Eileanan an Iar’s MSP, Alasdair Allan, has denounced the cancellations.
He said: “It seems issues with the dry dock schedule for multiple vessels have caused CalMac to have to redistribute remaining vessels throughout the network, though Lochboisdale will be most drastically impacted.
“South Uist consistently suffers the highest rate of cancellations of any island community, and they have drawn the short straw again. Businesses are clear they will not be able to weather this latest total service withdrawal without significant support, and are urging CalMac to reconsider this decision, questioning why they are unable to at least provide a weekly or bi-weekly Lochboisdale service.”
However, Donald Cameron MSP believes the Scottish Government is responsible for the disruption, saying: “The number of setbacks and cancellations on these routes is beyond a joke. To simply cancel a service for more than a month because of shortcomings on other parts of the system nothing short of a disgrace.
“The Scottish Government has to carry the can for these brutal failures. From top to bottom, its running of our crucial ferry system has been abysmal for years, and things only ever seem to get worse.”
The new Scottish minister for transport, Kevin Stewart met with CalMac last week to discuss the current ferry issues.
He said: “I’m pleased that they have undertaken further work on possible vessel deployment options and identified a solution that will enable the Lochboisdale route to continue to operate until at least the 16April. I’ve asked CalMac to carry out further work on alternatives beyond that date and look forward to them outlining those plans as soon as possible.”
The return sailing from Oban to Lochboisdale will be cancelled on April 16, to allow the Isle of Mull to reposition for the Oban-Craignure service. is
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