Ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne, has confirmed that Wednesday’s sailings of MV Isle of Lewis between Stornoway and Ullapool have been withdrawn due to operational issues. The company has confirmed that the service is being withdrawn due to illness among crew members. Norovirus has not been confirmed.

The issue became apparent yesterday (Mon 5 June) when 8 crew members reported symptoms. The Company has been in contact with relevant health agencies regarding management of the situation and procedures to prevent escalation have been put in place.

MV Isle of Lewis is continuing to operate the scheduled service today but will be withdrawn from service tomorrow (Wed 7 June) to allow for specialist cleansing of the vessel’s whole environment. As a contingency measure, traffic will be routed via Uig-Tarbert. Additional sailings have been scheduled as below to ease the traffic flow as much as possible:

Existing Ullapool-Stornoway bookings and tickets are being transferred to these arrangements. CalMac plans that MV Isle of Lewis will resume a normal service at 0715 on Thursday 8 June, subject to cleansing being completed and no escalation in reported cases of the illness.

Operations Director, Phil Preston, said: “CalMac has robust procedures in place to deal with this kind of eventuality and we are confident that we are taking appropriate action in good time. We have handled similar situations in the past and are drawing on that experience. Disrupting the service temporarily enables us to deal with the situation effectively, and while this may be inconvenient, it does enable us to resume the full service as soon as possible, in a better time-scale. Norovirus has not been confirmed but it is becoming increasingly common, particularly in the cruise industry. It is estimated that 1 in every 30 persons in the UK will contract this illness on land each year. However, as a result of recent increases in the incidence of this infection, we have put robust procedures in place to help prevent and contain illness such as this amongst crew as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

CalMac apologises to customers for the inconvenience and assures everyone that the Lewis service will be restored as quickly as possible.

Passenger wishing to confirm travel arrangements (including connecting coach services) for Wed 7th June should contact Caledonian MacBrayne’s Stornoway Office on 01851 702361.

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 6June, 2006: 1530