Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne is to write to Highland Council as the Harbour Authority, stressing the potential dangers of illegal dumping in the Uig harbour area, following a potentially serious incident involving one of their biggest ferries, MV Hebrides.

On Monday morning, (December 19), when berthing at Uig pier, MV Hebrides picked up a significant amount of dumped fishing gear and debris, which caused the service between Uig and Lochmaddy/Tarbert serious disruption. And the ferry Company has confirmed that by good luck, it would appear that the fouling did not cause serious damage requiring the ship to need to dry dock for much longer and more expensive repairs.

David Taylor, CalMac’s Regional Manager based in Skye said: “It is important that our customers understand the reasons behind this service disruption on Monday and that it was totally beyond our control. CalMac is doing the best we can to have the port authorities control what is clearly illegal dumping in this instance. The material picked up by MV Hebrides was clearly a hazard to shipping and raises significant environmental issues. Sometimes it could be argued that debris can be washed in from the sea, but not in this case where it was clearly loaded down. This is extremely serious and could have had major consequences for the vessel had she lost power as a result while berthing. It is not the first time something like this has happened and I would appeal to harbour users and the Council to take heed of our concerns.”

CalMac’s service to Lochmaddy and Tarbert was severely disrupted on Monday and MV Hebrides had to operate on one engine on occasion due to the fouling of the propeller. Divers were used to check for damage and at Lochmaddy the divers discovered a large, ball-like, mass attached to the port propeller. They had to cut this off in an operation lasting two hours.

Mr. Taylor added: “The mass was too large to pull over the ship’s side using the capstan.  A considerable amount of rope was also removed from the Starboard Prop.  We have been extremely lucky here. The consequences of this do not bear thinking about and I hope that lessons will be learned about the harbour operation in Uig. I would also like to apologise to our customers who were inconvenienced by what was clearly an avoidable incident over which we had, unfortunately, no control.”

ends

For further information on the contents of this News Release, please contact Hugh Dan MacLennan, Head of Communication and Customer Care, Caledonian MacBrayne.   Tel: 0776 435 4021; e-mail hugh.maclennan@calmac.co.uk.

Issued:  Tuesday, December 22,  2005  : 1700