No ferries between Western Isles and Uig after MV Hebrides is pulled from service

CalMac has announced that after pulling the MV Hebrides from service, no scheduled service will run between the Western Isles and Uig on Skye.

The MV Hebrides operates regular services between Uig on Skye, Lochmaddy on North Uist and Tarbert on Harris.

However, due to a fault with the CO2 firefighting system, CalMac has been forced to pull the vessel from service.

Sailings were halted on July 26 after the fault was found, and the ferry will depart for the Dales yard in Greenock, where repair work will commence on Wednesday.

With the MV Hebrides out of action, CalMac looked at dispatching another vessel to help keep to a regular sailing schedule.

CalMac says that “all options for a relief vessel have been explored” and that all vessels will remain on their designated routes.

This means no regular services will operate between the Western Isles and Skye until the MV Hebrides is operational.

There will be no Uig-Tarbert service on Wednesday or Thursday, while the MV Lord of the Isles will operate two additional Lochboisdale-Armadale sailings over these days.

‘Customers will understandably be upset’

Booked passengers are being moved onto the timetabled Lochboisdale-Mallaig, Barra-Oban and Stornoway-Ullapool routes, and local hauliers have agreed to move commercial bookings to make space for other vehicles.

During these temporary changes, all Stornoway-Ullapool sailings will operate to the normal timetable.

Robbie Drummond, CalMac managing director, said: “Customers will understandably be upset about this latest disruption to their journeys, and I am deeply sorry for what they are going through.

“Moving them onto other routes is far from ideal but without a spare vessel, this is the best option we have available.

“We will find out what is causing this malfunction and get it fixed properly by a specialist team.

“I would like to thank customers including hauliers and businesses who have agreed to move bookings, for their patience and support at this very difficult time.

“While we know this process is time-consuming and frustrating for customers, our staff are doing their very best to help and should not be subjected to aggression or violent behaviour”.