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13 November 2024
Following the news that MV Caledonian Isles - one of our major vessels - requires further repairs, we have planned for the vessel being unavailable for the duration for the winter timetable period. And with this being the case, we have published a new vessel deployment plan for the period 16 November 2024 - 27 March 2025. Below, we've shared information for customers on how this will affect services between Mallaig/Oban - Lochboisdale, South Uist, as well as services on the Sound of Barra.
Given the vessels available to us, we have to reduce direct services to Lochboisdale from Saturday 16 November up to and including Saturday 30 November. In line with feedback from customers, at least one weekly return directly to Lochboisdale will operate on 21 November and 28 November. Full details are available on our Service Status & Information page for the route.
In addition, to mitigate against the reduced service to South Uist, the Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy service will be amended with additional Lochmaddy services and fewer Tarbert services, while traffic to Tarbert will be accommodated on the Ullapool-Stornoway service. Full details will be available on our timetable pages shortly for this route.
Also, extra sailings via the Sound of Barra will also be in place to allow for onward connections to the mainland via the Oban-Castlebay service - although we do recognise the additional travel time this represents. Full details are published on our Service Status & Information pages.
From 1 December 2024, a direct South Uist service is expected to operate between Oban-Lochboisdale. This will run from 1 December until 4 January, with an amended service on Mondays to accommodate the Colonsay service. An amended timetable for this service will be available on our timetable section shortly. And from 5 January until 7 March, the service will remain as currently published.
MV Isle of Mull's deployment to Lochboisdale from 8 March until 23 March remains under review and will be updated by January.
From 24 March to 27 March, MV Lord of the Isles will operate the service as currently published.
Work is now underway to update the booking system - and while this is ongoing amendments and new bookings for some sailings are unavailable. This is temporary, so please do check back later.
If you have a reservation in the system that is affected by any of these changes, we will be in contact with you in date order of sailings.
As always, to stay up to date with the latest information on the service status of each route, please continue to check our Service Status & Information page for these routes, check the X (formerly Twitter) feed - @CalMac_Updates, and sign up for SMS text subscription services.
Again, we apologise for the inconvenience caused by having one of the large vessels on the fleet out of service for this period. It has been a challenging period for customers who have been affected.
The revised plans outlined above takes on board the feedback from customers and communities on how we manage this situation - and reflects our commitment to meeting demand and maintaining a lifeline service across the network. We will continue to look at ways to further support services to and from South Uist - and across the network.
Within our last update to customers, we indicated we'd share a further update with you before 17 October regarding service plans and vessel deployment on the network. We're now able to share the latest information with you.
A combined service for South Uist and Mull will continue to be operated by MV Isle of Mull until the morning of Friday 18 October.
From Sunday 20 October, MV Isle of Mull will operate a combined service for South Uist and Barra up to Friday 15 November. View timetable., and more details can be found on the Service Status & Information page for this route.
The combined service ensures that during the period of extended repairs to one of our major vessels, MV Caledonian Isles, which has now run on into the winter overhaul period, we can preserve a service for both routes until at least Friday 15 November inclusive.
If you have a booking for travel for the period above, we will contact you should your booking be affected. We will be working through reservations in date order.
While work is underway to update the system, it may seem that some sailings are not available to book / amend. This is temporary. Please do check back.
MV Caledonian Isles - one of our major vessels on the network - is still undergoing unforeseen repairs. We anticipate that she will return to service by Wednesday 20 November, although the repairs are complex, and this date is subject to change. As this work has run into our winter overhaul period, it has meant a period of extended vessel redeployment around the network. The latest phase of this has meant implementation of a combined service for South Uist and Barra from 19 October - 15 November.
Following on from our last update, we can confirm that timetables for Oban/Mallaig - Lochboisdale for the period 5 January - 27 March will be published to view on our website on Thursday 17 October and customer bookings for this period will open on Tuesday 29 October at 12noon.
Again, we sincerely apologise to our customers and communities who are and have been affected by this disruption. Our focus remains on protecting services and minimising disruption across the network, with the vessels we have available.
Thank you for your continued patience while we do this.
We want to share the latest information with customers regarding our services to and from Mallaig / Lochboisdale, South Uist.
A combined service for South Uist and Mull will continue to be operated by MV Isle of Mull until the morning of Friday 18 October when MV Lord of the Isles is scheduled to return to the South Uist service for the remainder of the summer timetable period (20 October 2024). However, there are weather disruptions expected, as always, our Service Status & Information pages will keep you up to date with the very latest details on sailings times for this period. You can also follow our X (formerly Twitter) feed - @CalMac_Updates, and subscribe to our SMS text subscription services.
If you have a booking for travel for this period, we will contact you should your booking be affected. We are working through bookings in date order of sailing, prioritising Friday 11 October and Saturday 12 October in the first instance.
We really appreciate your patience with our teams.
While this work is underway, it may seem that some sailings are not available to book / amend. Bookings and amendments between Friday 11 October and Friday 18 October are currently closed. This is temporary. Please do check back.
MV Lord of the Isles was redeployed to support services elsewhere on the network while MV Caledonian Isles, which ordinarily operated on our Arran services undertook further unforeseen repairs. It is expected this vessel will remain out of service until mid November at the earliest.
We are now reviewing our vessel deployment plan for the winter timetable period in light of this news. As other major vessels enter and exit annual maintenance, there is likely to be a need for regular changes to vessel deployment.
As always, we aim to keep you informed. Our next update on vessel deployment will be by Thursday 17 October.
We apologise sincerely for the disruption to the service - and thank you for your patience and support while vessels were redeployed to support services elsewhere on the network.
We are keen to provide you with the latest information regarding our services to and from Mallaig / Lochboisdale.
We have reviewed our vessel deployment options to provide a Mallaig-Lochboisdale service. From Thursday 3 October, MV Isle of Mull will operate a combined service for Craignure and Lochboisdale to the timetable which is available on the route's Service Status and Information page.
In the meantime, MV Lord of the Isles will remain redeployed to Islay services until at least, Wednesday 9 October. As outlined below, this is while MV Hebridean Isles, which ordinarily operates the Islay route, is deployed to support services on Arran at a time when MV Caledonian Isles is undertaking repairs and MV Isle of Arran goes through annual overhaul which cannot be delayed.
If you have a booking for travel for this period, we will contact you should your booking be affected. We are working through bookings in date order of sailing, prioritising Thursday 3 October and Friday 4 October in the first instance. We really appreciate your patience with our teams.
While this work is underway, it may seem that some sailings are not available to book / amend. This is temporary. Please do check back.
As always, our Service Status & Information pages will keep you up to date with the very latest details. You can also follow our X (formerly Twitter) feed - @CalMac_Updates, and subscribe to our SMS text subscription services.
We apologise sincerely for the disruption and cancellation to the service over the previous week.
Our teams have been working hard to find solutions to support services with the vessels available. Thank you for the patience you have shown them during this challenging period.
We want to share with you details about significant disruption on our network which will, unfortunately, result in cancellations on our Mallaig - Lochboisdale (South Uist) route effective from Wednesday 25 September.
This disruption is due to a technical problem with MV Caledonian Isles, which ordinarily operates the Ardrossan - Brodick (Arran) service, that has resulted in the vessel being removed from service for repairs.
Following a careful review of our vessel deployment options, and consultation with the affected communities, this disruption will have a knock-on effect on services to/from Arran, Islay and South Uist.
Wednesday 25 September
MV Lord of the Isles will operate an amended 07:00 Lochboisdale - Oban sailing (diverted from Mallaig), and the 13:50 Mallaig - Lochboisdale sailing will be cancelled.
Thursday 26 September - Wednesday 2 October (inclusive)
All Mallaig - Lochboisdale sailings will be cancelled.
If you have a booking which is affected by this disruption, our teams be in touch with you directly. We're contacting customers in date order of travel. This work will take time, so please do be patient - we really appreciate it. We want to make you aware that space on alternative routes is very limited, and that we'll need to prioritise lifeline goods and freight on these alternatives. However, please be assured that we'll do everything we can to support you.
Customers with existing bookings which are affected by service disruption retain certain rights and entitlements in line with The Merchant Shipping (Passengers' Rights) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Customers are advised that this disruption is due to technical reasons, and therefore the following Passenger Rights criteria apply (within the parameters detailed at the Passenger Rights section of our website):
Snacks, meals and refreshments
Overnight accommodation
Additional mileage incurred
Compensation based at a percentage rate of the ticket price you paid for the disrupted leg of your journey
Find out what you may be entitled to in the event of a disruption or cancellation to your sailing at the Passenger Rights section of our website, which also includes a link to our online claim form.
We are currently investigating the possibility of operating additional sailings on our Sound of Barra route, between Ardmhor (Barra) and Eriskay, in order to facilitate connection opportunities with the Castlebay (Barra) - Oban service. This will depend on crew availability, and we will provide more details as soon as they are available.
We are also continually reviewing our vessel deployment options, and monitoring repairs to MV Caledonian Isles closely.
This vessel deployment plan will remain in place up to and including Wednesday 2 October - however, should MV Caledonian Isles be able to return to service before then, vessels will revert to their original routes as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, we do not have spare vessels within the fleet we operate so, during periods of significant disruption, we have to make difficult decisions regarding vessel deployment. There are no easy options, and we understand the impact of these decisions on our customers, and the communities that we serve.
The two vessels which ordinarily operate the Ardrossan - Brodick (Arran) service are both unavailable - MV Caledonian Isles is undergoing repairs for a technical issue, and MV Isle of Arran is required to undergo its annual overhaul - an activity which cannot be delayed due to the vessel's certification dates
As a result, MV Hebridean Isles, which is normally the second vessel on the Kennacraig - Islay route, is being redeployed to the Arran route.
Consequentially, MV Lord of the Isles, which normally operates the Mallaig - Lochboisdale (South Uist) service, is being redeployed to Islay to temporarily replace MV Hebridean Isles.
The vessel deployment plan for this period of disruption has been evaluated against our Route Prioritisation Framework - and community feedback from across the network. This framework guides decision making around services on our major vessel routes during periods of disruption.
We've shared more details for these services in individual route updates on our website:
Customer Update: Arran services
Customer Update: Islay services
As always, our Service Status & Information pages will keep you up to date with the very latest details. You can also follow our X (formerly Twitter) feed - @CalMac_Updates, and subscribe to our SMS text subscription services.
We regret that these redeployments have resulted in cancellations to the Mallaig - Lochboisdale services.
Our teams are doing everything they can to restore services to normal as soon as possible, and to support customers who will be affected in the coming days. This is also a challenging time for them, and we know you'll show kindness when interacting with them.
We are so sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers, and the affected communities.