Two cracks found on MV Hebrides are causing disruption on North Uist and Harris routes
just as the tourism season gets into full swing.
Her bow visor has been ruled out of action due to the troubling defects on the normally
robust steel visor arm which takes a significant amount of weight as the structure
lifts upwards, opening access for vehicles to drive on and off the car deck.
The CalMac ferry remains in operation with extended timings but upheaval is set to
continue well into June at least as a full official assessment of the defective structure
will take some time due to difficulties in securing attendance of engineers from
the company which originally supplied the visor arm mechanism.
A revised timetable with amended arrival and departure times and the withdrawal and
two sailings withdrawn per week currently runs to 9 June when the inspection is anticipated
to take place.
Its unclear if the vessel will relocate to a different harbour outwith her route
for next month’s inspection.
Arrangements for repairs may be pushed back if the engineers consider if a whole
new replacement component is needed.
At present, CalMac faces an increasing number of travel reservations for the Skye
triangle service to Harris and Uist.
Current booking levels will see cars, campervans and freight lorries being squeezed
into every corner of the ships main deck over the coming weeks, even with the mezzanine
deck deployed.
Available deck space is going fast with virtually all journeys on the shared route
into mid-June either being fully booked for vehicles or with limited room left.
Donnie Macdonald, chairman of the Harris Transport Forum, worries Harris may suffer
the same fate as neighbouring Western Isles communities when they were landed with
a severely diminished ferry service following a major fault with MV Isle of Mull.
Mr Macdonald said: “With our knowledge of what happened with Barra and South Uist,
it is incumbent upon CalMac and (Scottish Government ferry owner) CMAL to ensure
the same kind of disruption does not occur in North Uist and in Harris especially
as we are coming into the island’s busiest time of year.”
Island residents are used to being let down he added but they depend on the ferry
service particularly for “medical and compassionate reasons, to get to doctor appointments
on time or attend family bereavements for example, which is one of the main primary
factors of it being a lifeline service.
Commercial businesses “rely on ferry services” to ensure consignments such as live
fish and shellfish reach mainland markets on time and are “not left in the same scenario
as Barratlantic (shellfish exporter on Barra) has been in.”
“Barratlantic were operating on a knife edge wanting to know whether a ferry goes
or not, or even if they had a ferry. I would not want that same scenario happening
in North Uist or in Harris,” he stressed.
Mr Macdonald highlighted CalMac ticket office staff and ships’ crews are “absolutely
excellent and go the extra mile.”
He hailed their skill in getting vehicles on and off the vessel smoothly despite
the new restrictions.
Until further notice unloading times will take longer as the Hebrides is forced to
turn around in confined harbour waters and edge stern-in to the pier linkspan at
all three ports she serves. Further manoeuvring constraints kick-in if berthing during
strong winds.
MV Hebrides is one of the hardest working ships in CalMac’s fleet, being shared on
the Skye triangle route with voyages to Lochmaddy in the northern end of Uist and
also serving Tarbert on Harris.
An extra ten minutes is added onto every sailing which adds up over the day. A revised
timetable is set to be reviewed.
Disruption is already impacting passengers with two sailings withdrawn from the weekly
timetable at short notice. The ship’s crew also face an extended working day.
Foot passengers are warned they may miss onward bus connections as the delayed arrival
times are now out of sync with bus links between Tarbert and Stornoway, the Lochmaddy
service and the Skye Citylink late evening departure.
A CalMac spokeswoman said: “The issue with the bow visor means that MV Hebrides can
only load and unload via the stern ramp, which has increased turnaround times, so
the current published timetable is not achievable.”
To allow CalMac to arrange for specialist contractors to assess and repair the bow
visor, a temporary timetable is in place to 9 June.
“While we have done our best to minimise the impact on customers, we have had to
cancel sailings from Harris on a Saturday night and into Harris on a Monday morning.”
To offset this, an additional sailing took place with MV Loch Seaforth from Lewis
on Saturday night to accommodate displaced traffic.
“We are also working to make sure that all Monday traffic to Harris can be managed
through alternative sailings.
“Booked customers will be updated about changes to their bookings and any displaced
passengers will also be contacted.
“We are working to restore normal service as quickly as possible, and sincerely apologise
for any inconvenience.”
Cracks discovered on CalMac ferry
19 May 2025
