Uist ferry remains out of action after new fault found

A CalMac ferry serving the Western Isles remains out of service after a new fault was discovered.

MV Lord of the Isles was meant to resume sailing after repairs to corroded steel, but now a problem has been found with its radar systems.

The ship, which operates between Mallaig and Lochboisdale in South Uist, was taken out of service on Thursday.

CalMac said Saturday sailings were now cancelled and apologised for the disruption.

A spokeswoman said the vessel was taken to Kennacraig where the works carried out on its steelwork were completed.

She added: “Due to an emergent issue with her radar system which restricts the vessel’s operation in hours of darkness, Saturday’s sailings have been cancelled.

“Impacted traffic continues to be redirected to the Lochmaddy – Uig route which has available capacity on both the Saturday morning and afternoon departures. Timings for services on Sunday and Monday will be finalised on Saturday.

“We are extremely sorry for the disruption to customers caused by the loss of MV Lord of the Isles, and the impact this has on the local communities we serve.”

The CalMac fleet has become increasingly unreliable and maintenance budgets have soared due to the slow pace of vessel replacement.

The average age of a CalMac ship is 24 years, but many of the larger vessels are much older.

MV Lord Lord of the Isles is 33 years old, and around half of the 10 largest ships are beyond their expected service life.

The delays to the two new ships being built at Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow have contributed to the problem, but critics say a long term lack of investment is also to blame.

Calum Macauley, the owner of the Lochboisdale Hotel, said the service to South Uist had become very unreliable.

He told the BBC: “You’ve got the option of going up to Lochmaddy and crossing across to Uig on Skye – but that give us a 130-mile detour and a far, far longer journey time to Lochboisdale.

“You could probably reckon 80 plus per cent of the people are heading for the central Scottish belt so that basically puts a day’s travel now to go via Lochmaddy.”

In May, the Lord of the Isles was out of action for two weeks because it needed essential repairs to its firefighting system.

Other vessels to have faced breakdowns this year include MV Hebrides, historically regarded as a reliable ship, but which has been out of service on a number of occasions.