CalMac crisis: Sailings cancelled after Alfred ferry replacing fault-plagued Glen Sannox arrives late
Crew forced to rest after acting as night watch following vessel’s return from annual overhaul
Islanders were left without a ferry service for a third day after the vessel due to replace CalMac’s fault-plagued Glen Sannox arrived too late to operate sailings on Wednesday.
It comes as the latest setback to passengers who are suffering extensive disruption across the operator’s west coast network after ten of its vessels were out of action - the most for years.
The chartered catamaran Alfred was scheduled to take over the Troon to Brodick route in Arran from Glen Sannox after completing its annual overhaul, but returned to the Clyde from Birkenhead in Merseyside later than planned.
CalMac said the vessel’s crew had to stay on duty as there was no night watch, which meant Alfred could not sail on Wednesday because they were legally required to rest.
The operator said the 11.50am sailing from Brodick and 2pm service from Troon had been cancelled and there would be no sailings on the route for the rest of the day.
Passengers, who were told this was due to a “crew issue”, were again redirected or transferred by bus to Ardrossan for sailings to Brodick, which were operating normally.
Glen Sannox has suffered multiple faults since entering service more than six years late in January last year, and had only been back from its latest repairs since last Thursday when it suffered a fuel leak on Monday.
However, in a further twist, CalMac announced just before 12.30pm on Wednesday that the fault had been ”resolved” and Glen Sannox would operate sailings on the route from 1pm.
A CalMac spokesperson told The Scotsman: “The vessel was later than planned arriving on the Clyde and there was no night watch, meaning crew members had to stay up and can’t operate due to legally required hours of rest.
Orkney-based Pentland Ferries, which owns Alfred, said its departure from the dock in Merseyside “was delayed due to other ship movements and limited services over the Easter weekend”.
Britain’s biggest ferry operator was unable to say whether Alfred would resume sailings on Thursday since it is reviewing its entire fleet deployment due to the scale of disruption caused by having so many ferries out of action at the same time because of breakdowns and scheduled overhauls.
It expects to issue an update over services across its network by Wednesday afternoon.
The company said: “Following the issues that have emerged in recent days, our teams are working on vessel deployment plans.
“Services from Thursday onwards are being reviewed and an update will be provided later.”
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