Islanders bid a fond farewell to MV Hebridean Isles



One of Scotland's oldest lifeline ferries has been retired after nearly 40 years of service.

With two blasts of its horn, MV Hebridean Isles bade farewell as it left the quay at Stornoway for a final time on Sunday, bound for Glasgow before it goes to the breakers.

For islanders, whose lives are so interwoven with the sea, the ships of Britain's biggest ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne are more than just large lumps of steel and aluminium.

"Heb Isles" leaves behind a ship-shaped hole in the hearts of many former passengers and seafarers who have come to regard it as a trusty old friend.

The ship was given the name of the islands it was destined to serve on a sunny day in July 1985 at the long-gone Cochrane shipyard at Selby, North Yorkshire.

It was a first on two counts - the "lady sponsor" the Duchess of Kent was the first member of the Royal Family to name a CalMac vessel.  And it was the ferry operator's first vessel built outside of Scotland.  Two pipers were sent down to play the Skye Boat Song at the launch ceremony.

Margaret Thatcher was in No 10, Sister Sledge was Number One in the charts - and health and safety rules were somewhat more relaxed than today.  Shipyard workers hammered away the last supporting "shores" and wedges, then ducked and dashed for cover as the huge vessel slid above their heads in a spectacular sideways launch into the River Ouse.

The ship had cost £5.5m - and after a few months of fitting out, it made its maiden voyage off Scotland's west coast in December.  For 15 years it was deployed on the "Uig Triangle" - between Skye, North Uist and Harris - before moving to the Islay crossing, but it has served most of Scotland's sea routes in its time.

Aside from the scheduled sailings, the crew would voluntarily give up their time to put on special "booze cruises" to raise money for island charities.  The first, in 1992, saw a country and western band perform on the car deck, as thousands of pounds were raised to help purchase a breast cancer scanner for the Western Isles.


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Thanks for posting that, Chris. I had ... wondered ... whether I should but thought I was probably the only one interested.  RONG! .. 

I wonder that they have enough ships left in the fleet - sort of TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) on water limitations, frugality and late delivery of complex new vehicles.   New Glen Sannox ... when?

The long-delayed ship at the centre of Scotland's ferries saga has been handed over by the Ferguson shipyard, exactly seven years after it was launched.

MV Glen Sannox, destined for CalMac's Arran route, is the first new large vessel for the west coast ferry fleet in nearly a decade.

The ferry operator will now conduct several weeks of crew familiarisation trials before the ship carries its first passengers in January.

Scotland's ferries saga ship to finally set sail



The ship at the centre of Scotland's long-running ferries saga is scheduled to make its first passenger voyage before dawn on Monday.

MV Glen Sannox is due to leave Troon harbour in South Ayrshire, bound for the Isle of Arran, on its first sailing at 06:30.

But a yellow alert, external, issued by Caledonian MacBrayne on Sunday, said it may be subject to delay or cancellation due to high winds.

The ship - which was meant to be delivered almost seven years ago - completed a return test sailing on Sunday and is the first new large vessel to join the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s largest ferry fleet in nearly a decade.

With a capacity for 127 cars and 852 passengers, Glen Sannox will help relieve pressures on the state-owned operator which has struggled in recent years to maintain services with ageing and increasingly unreliable vessels.

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The old age of the CalMac fleet can be compared with the old age of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) local / regional train fleet.

Glen Sannox ferry sailings to resume after crack repair

The new Glen Sannox ferry is expected to resume sailings on Sunday after repairs have been completed on a crack in the ship's hull.

The brand new vessel only began operating in January after being delivered almost seven years late and costing more than four times the original contract price.

CalMac confirmed the news after divers carried out a detailed assessment of the damage on Saturday.  The ferry had been operating for just over two months between Troon in South Ayrshire and Brodick in the Isle of Arran.

A CalMac spokesman said: "The dive inspection has identified a hairline crack on a weld seam on MV Glen Sannox's hull earlier today and we can confirm repairs are now underway at Brodick and expected to complete later today.  We anticipate MV Glen Sannox to resume timetabled service on Sunday 16 March and will confirm this evening."

It added the MV Alfred would operate an extra return sailing on Saturday to provide cover and said the "vast majority" of booked customers had been able to travel.

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Ferguson shipyard misses out on new CalMac ferry order



The nationalised Ferguson shipyard has missed out on a crucial order for seven small all-electric ferries for west coast operator Caledonian MacBrayne.

Ferries procurement agency CMAL has instead named a Polish firm, Remontowa, as preferred bidder for the small vessels replacement programme (SVRP).

Ferguson's, the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde, had vowed to bid "aggressively" for the contract and had made it onto a shortlist of six bidders.

A total of £175m has been allocated to build the new "loch class" vessels and complete harbour and shore power upgrades. The first ferries are due to join the CalMac fleet in 2027.

The contract was a key part of Ferguson Marine's five-year business plan following delays and cost overruns in the construction of two much larger ferries for CalMac.

The 50m (164ft) all-electric ferries are similar to ones it has delivered successfully in the past and could have given it a pipeline of repeatable work lasting several years.

The Port Glasgow shipyard is still pursuing alternative business opportunities, including defence sub-contracting work from BAE Systems and private sector work.

Scottish government-owned CMAL said the award to the Polish firm represented "best value" for the public purse. But Scottish Labour said the government had failed to stand up for key Scottish industries, while the Scottish Conservatives claimed SNP mismanagement could prove to be the "death knell" for Ferguson's.

The Ferguson bid for the SVRP is understood to have ranked well for quality but missed out due to the difficulties in matching overseas yards on cost.

Chief financial officer David Dishon said: "We are very proud of our bid and although we priced it competitively, we were up against extremely tough competition from yards outside the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) which benefit from significantly reduced operating costs and advanced capital investment programmes. The weighting for price will therefore place all UK yards at a disadvantage. However, we were pleased to see Ferguson Marine's bid rated so highly on quality."

Remontowa, based in Gdansk, has previously built the CalMac ferries MV Argyle, MV Bute and MV Finlaggan, and was runner up to Ferguson's when the contracts for MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa were awarded in 2015.


A concept design drawing of the new all-electric ferries.

CMAL chief executive Kevin Hobbs said the bids had been assessed against a range of technical and financial criteria, weighted 65% on quality and 35% on cost.  He said: "It is our responsibility to follow the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland and appoint a yard capable of producing quality vessels which meet the needs of islanders, but that also deliver the best value for the public purse. We are confident in Remontowa's ability, and have worked with them before, most recently with the delivery of the MV Finlaggan in 2011."

There now follows a 10-day "standstill period" after which the contract will be signed.

The new ferries will operate on the Colintraive-Rhubodach (Bute); Lochaline-Fishnish (Mull); Tarbert (Loch Fyne)-Portavadie; Iona-Fionnphort (Mull); Sconser-Raasay; Tobermory-Kilchoan (Mull); and Tayinloan-Gigha routes.

Phase two of the programme will see the purchase of three more vessels which are capable of handling more challenging sea states, but that contract will go to tender separately.

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