CalMac has announced temporary changes to its South Uist crossing after a fault was discovered with the vessel’s radar system.
Emergency repairs were carried out onboard MV Lord of the Isles today after corroded steelwork was discovered.
The boat– which serves Mallaig, Lochboisdale in South Uist, and Oban – was pulled from service on Thursday.
It was taken to Kennacraig where work on its steelwork was completed. However, problems with the ferry’s radar system have now been found.
🔶 AMBER #Mallaig #Lochboisdale 11Dec & 12Dec Due to an ongoing issue with MV Lord of the Isles’ radar system, an amended timetable will operate – https://t.co/A4Sib7bol8
— CalMac Service Info (@CalMac_Updates) December 10, 2022
The fault restricts the boat’s operation in hours of darkness, resulting in a number of cancellations today.
The 2pm crossing departing Oban was pulled from the schedule. It follows an earlier cancellation of the 9.40am service departing Lochboisdale.
In a statement, CalMac apologised to customers for the disruption.
A spokeswoman said: “The vessel was taken to Kennacraig where the works carried out on her steelwork have been completed, however, due to an emergent issue with her radar system which restricts the vessel’s operation in hours of darkness, Saturday’s sailings were cancelled.
“We are extremely sorry for the disruption to customers caused by the loss of MV Lord of the Isles, and the impact this has on the local communities we serve.”
All affected passengers are now being redirected to the Lochmaddy to Uig crossing, as it had availability onboard.
Amended timetable in operation
MV Lord of the Isles is now being repositioned to Lochboisdale where it will operate services to and from Mallaig from Sunday.
Crossings to Oban have been called off in the coming days as a specialist engineer is drafted in to carry out the necessary repairs.
To compensate for the ferry’s faults, an amended timetable will be in operation on both Sunday and Monday between the mainland and South Uist.
Each day, the ferry will depart South Uist at 8.40am and arrive in Mallaig at 12.10pm.
The return service will depart Mallaig 30 minutes later and arrive at the port in Lochboisdale at 4.20pm.
MV Lord of the Isles was launched in 1989 making the vessel one of the oldest in the fleet. It can carry 506 passengers and 49 cars.
