Loch Seaforth homecoming

Stornoway’s new £42 million ferry is due to take up residence in her home port in the next few days.

The countdown is now on for her to make her first commercial maiden voyage within three weeks.

The MV Loch Seaforth is presently laid up on the Clyde with nowhere to go as continuing disruption with upgrading the ferry pier in Stornoway harbour has prevented her from taking up commercial services.

The pier - which should have been ready last summer - is still under construction.

Civil engineers faced problems in strengthening the structure to handle robust berthing.

Now Cal Mac say they have been told they should “get access” to the pier in the next week or so.

If there are no further hold-ups or bad weather delays to the harbour board’s timescale estimates, the 7,800 tonne modern ship can then commence a series of berthing trials before being phased-in on the Stornoway to Ullapool route.

The first fare-paying passengers or traffic are expected to board sometime within the two weeks after her arrival at Stornoway’s number three pier.

The Loch Seaforth will undertake occasional commercial voyages instead of the present MV Isle of Lewis during a test period which Cal Mac estimates will take around 14 days.

The vessel has never carried a full cardeck, been laden with heavy lorries nor accommodated passengers, so will initially shadow the present car ferry, MV Isle of Lewis as well as the freight vessel, MV Clipper Ranger, for the Minch crossing.

Cal Mac recently highlighted delays to the Stornoway pier upgrade, necessary for the new MV Loch Seaforth to come onto the Stornoway-Ullapool service have in turned delayed replacing the Ullapool linkspan to April.

For five weeks from April 20, the Loch Seaforth will be reduced to a foot passenger service only as the Ullapool vehicle linkspan is being replaced. Vehicle traffic for Stornoway will be diverted via Skye.

Cal Mac managing director Martin Dorchester said: “The delay to the completion of MV Loch Seaforth and the subsequent delays to the Stornoway Harbour works have been immensely frustrating for everyone and especially for CalMac, as operator of the MV Loch Seaforth, as we had fully expected that by this stage she would have been operating for more than six months and any teething problems or operational challenges would have been well and truly ironed out.”

He added: “As it is she has still to be properly tested on this route, and although we have been using this time as productively as possible with further commissioning, crew familiarisation and induction trials, experience with other new vessels shows that the real test of her capabilities can only begin in earnest when she has entered service.

“Some time has been saved by this work but everyone should be aware that when she does enter service it will be on a phased basis, shadowing the MV Isle of Lewis until we are absolutely satisfied that all is well.

The Loch Seaforth was built to replace the MV Isle of Lewis and the former freight ship, MV Muirneag.

Homecoming countdown for MV Loch Seaforth

27 January 2015