FERRY operator CalMac today releases its summer timetable and is highlighting a main change “of note” – deploying two vessels on the Mallaig-Armadale service to allow the MV Coruisk to offer extra capacity on the “very busy” route between Oban and Craignure.
However, the decision has immediately come under fire from MP Ian Blackford and his Holyrood colleague Kate Forbes, who have written to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf seeking an early meeting to discuss options for the service after it was beset with problems last year.
CalMac’s operations director Drew Collier said the MV Lord of the Isles and MV Loch Fyne would serve the route, giving the extra capacity, frequency and improved reliability requested by the Sleat community on Skye.
CalMac said the Loch Fyne, which traditionally operates between Lochaline and Fishnish on Mull, will need her ramps modified to operate on the Sound of Sleat but, once completed, this would allow them to provide more capacity and more sailings on the route than in summer 2015, when the MV Coruisk operated alone.
The two vessels will operate nine scheduled return sailings per day, compared to eight in 2015. CalMac said the route would be able to take 23,300 more cars than in 2015 and about 11,400 more than in 2016. It added that the Loch Fyne can carry up to four coaches dependent on their size, compared with two on the Lochinvar.
“We believe we have been able to come up with a solution, as requested by the transport minister, which removes the level of uncertainty caused by the tidal issues experienced last year and provides an enhanced service,” said Collier.
“Due to spring tides the timetable for the first two weeks of the summer service will be noticeably variable, but that is unavoidable and we are sure that with advance notice customers can plan around that.
“The positive news is that travel trade bookings for the route in summer 2017 are looking positive, with no indication that last year’s issues are putting coach operators off travelling to and from Skye via Mallaig.”
He added that apart from repeating the three-vessel service that caused problems last year, CalMac’s only other option for 2017 was to remove the Coruisk from the Mull service and run a limited number of extra sailings with the MV Isle of Mull, but these would be at the start and end of the day, which would not address demand at peak times. In their letter to Yousaf, Blackford and Forbes said they were disappointed that the new timetable left islanders again in the situation where the Armadale-Mallaig route would be serviced by vessels “designed to operate from slipways and not the link spans installed at both terminals”.
“Whilst we welcome the increased number of sailings and the enhanced capacity, it does not take away our concerns that its operation is hampered by an inability to operate at regular and predicted low spring and summer tides,” they said.
“It has been demonstrably shown by the communities affected and by businesses that the failure to operate this service using vessels which are fit for purpose has had a detrimental effect on reliability and the customer experience.
“This has been a long-running saga since the decision was taken to remove the MV Coruisk from the route in the summer of 2016 and there has to be an acceptance by Caledonian MacBrayne that they must secure appropriate capacity for this route as soon as is possible.”
“Although we are facing not having vessels we would consider as fit for purpose in 2017, there must be an understanding that this cannot be repeated for 2018.”
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