A Highland MP has accused ferry operator CalMac of performing a U-turn on a promise that MV Coruisk would be returning to the Mallaig to Armadale route.
The ferry was moved from the Lochaber to Skye crossing to serve the isle of Mull from Oban.
It was claimed last week that CalMac had agreed to return the vessel to its original route, but the operator said yesterday that such a change was not planned in the immediate future.
Ian Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, branded the announcement “unacceptable”.
He said: “Caledonian MacBrayne have today said that the Coruisk is to remain on its current deployment on the Oban-Craignure route until a review of Summer services for 2017.
“I was told specifically last week that, subject to sign-off from Transport Scotland, that the Coruisk would be re-deployed away from Mull and back to its Mallaig-Armadale route.
“The question needs to be answered on what has changed and why is Coruisk not being returned immediately?”
He added: “The Mallaig-Armadale service is being operated by vessels that are not fit for purpose on this route with 100 plus cancellations since they took over.
“For CalMac to now say that there will be a review for next year, rather than immediate return – as I was told only last week, is completely unacceptable.”
He has spoken with Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, who has agreed to a meeting.
CalMac Managing Director Martin Dorchester said the timetable changes made in light of reliability issues on the Mallaig-Armadale service had noticeably improved performance on the route.
He said: “We regret that our plans for the Mallaig-Armadale route have fallen short of some expectations but I would stress that every change to our summer timetable was made after consultation with the local communities and each change was made in good faith with the sole intention of enhancing ferry services and addressing local concerns, some long-standing, about services in their area.
“We should also not lose sight of the fact that the vast majority of these changes have been warmly welcomed by those local communities.”
