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Never ending delays hit the Loch Seaforth’s service from the start resulting in a Scottish Governement taskforce being established to iron out the latter hitches

 

Construction work ran behind schedule while she was still on the stocks after a gale hit the Flensburger shipyard in Germany, ripping off the roof of the ship building hall.

 

Her hull was not launched until March 2014, a month later than planned.

 

Problems with her propeller hubs required an unfinished Loch Seaforth to sail to Denmark for modifications.

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the German shipyard, slow progress in fitting out the ship’s accommodation block held up the timetable.

 

A delay in the installation of electrical services throughout the vessel hampered other trades and services.

 

The unfinished ferry ended up stuck in the middle of a shipyard bankruptcy threat when its builders teetered on the brink of financial collapse.

 

Negotiations resulted in a lump sum being paid to transfer ownership to Scotland.

 

A redeveloped passenger terminal building plus pier upgrades at Ullapool were ready on time but a belated decision to upgrade the port’s end-of-life 42-year-old linkspan was held-up by delays to the Stornoway pier upgrade.

 

Stornoway Port Authority delays in awarding a contract to strengthen the ferry pier, the failure to complete the works within the initial target period saw the Loch Seaforth waiting on the Clyde after she eventually left Germany in November.

 

A fatal road crash on the European mainland delayed the supply of vital materials and an accident injuring two workers set back the Stornoway upgrade even further.

 

For the last month, Ca lMac was forced to run a diverted service - with irregular and reduced sailings - from Stornoway via Uig on Skye while the linkspan at Ullapool was replaced.

 

The ferry operator had a contingency plan ready in case the ship was not in service by this week.

 

The Scottish Government has invested £42 million to build the new MV Loch Seaforth, £17 million in infrastructure works at Ullapool and nearly £10 million for ferry pier upgrades at Stornoway Harbour.

 

The Loch Seaforth is designed to have a capacity for up to 700 passengers and 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles.

 

The ship is owned by Lloyd’s Banking Group, leased to Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and operated by CalMac Ferries.

 

CMAL is the Scottish Government company which owns the ships which provide ferry services to the Western Isles.

 

Never-ending delays hit the Loch Seaforth’s introduction

23 May 2015