Broken ferry returns to service 1/4/14
The Stornoway ferry, MV Isle of Lewis, has been fixed on its third day of a breakdown.
Specialist engineers flew to Lewis to try and identify an fault with an electronic control system which stopped the ship from going to sea.
All sailings on Sunday and Monday had been cancelled causing major disruption for hundreds of people travelling at the busy start of the Easter holidays.
Expert investigations into the cause were undertaken overnight and, following repairs, the vessel was approved to resume commercial sailings this (Tues) afternoon.
She will take over from the smaller MV Isle of Arran, which had been pulled off her Islay route to cover.
Its believed a larger vessel would have been put on the Minch route by the weekend if the MV Isle of Lewis had not been repaired.
Island hotels say they lost business as a result of the lost sailings.
Mainland-
Daily newspapers did not arrive in Stornoway until around 5pm.
A Cal Mac spokesman said: “Following the completion of repairs and successful sea trials, MV Isle of Lewis will resume service at 1.50pm from Stornoway and will complete the remainder of the day, reverting back to the published timetable.
“Calmac Ferries apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused.”
The MV Isle of Lewis is being replaced by a new, larger, £42 million ferry in September.