The island of Barra was severely hit by the seafarers' industrial action.
Though the whole of the Western Isles had no ferries at all on Friday, Barra was without a reliable link to the mainland for four days.
The serious disruption throws up a major financial and logistical headache for the island’s important fishing industry.
Staff at the Barratlantic seafood factory at Ardveenish were frantically working to rush out many tonnes of scampi, prawns, scallops and fish for UK and continental markets.
The shellfish processer -
This week’s ferry disruption risks having a devastating long term effect as trade customers may simply source supplies elsewhere and cut ties with Barra for the future.
Factory owner Donald Maclean has been trying to reassure anxious trade customers across Europe.
The ferry dispute has lost the factory a lot of money. Extra bills for the cold storage of shellfish despatched to the mainland in advance of the disruption are racking up.
Staff are being paid overtime to work late to prepare and pack seafood and to truck it down south.
The company is forced to absorb the financial hit as it cannot afford to pass the extra coast onto their customers.
Donald Maclean stresses life on Barra “depends on the ferry” for food, building and essential supplies as well as torists coming in, and exports going out.
More so for the seafood plant which requires a reliable transport link to the mainland to ensure produce arrives fresh at the other end.
Mr Maclean is critical of Cal Mac not providing a better contingency plan for the ferries this week.
He says: “Everything we do relies on the ferry.
He was unable to buy scallops as usual from fishing boats in Oban as there was no way of getting the produce to Barra for processing. These boats will sell elsewhere and are liable to shun dealing with the Barra factory again.
A worried Mr Maclean said: “There’s no guarantee these boat will come back to me again.”
Many tourists have been stranded on Barra after dispute-
Because of the crews' overtime ban, there was only one mainland voyage to the mainland during the industrial action.
David Grieve and a squad of people from Lothian Sea Kayak Club were unexpectedly stuck on Barra on Wednesday night.
They went into Castlebay’s Cal Mac office to discover the ferry to Oban was cancelled and they could not travel to the mainland. On a wet, chilly evening, the group of kayakers had nowhere to stay but were expected to camp on the nearby shore.
A group of five hikers encountered the same problem but later found accommodation for the night.
Seafarers' dispute hits fishing industry
28 June 2015