Further delays to new CalMac ferry expected in unscheduled update to MSPs
Isle of Islay is already running nearly a year late
Completion of the first of four ferries being built in Turkey to bolster CalMac’s ageing fleet is expected to be further delayed, The Scotsman has learned.
It is thought that MSPs will be told of the latest setback on Monday in an unscheduled major update on construction progress from the Scottish Government firm which ordered the vessels.
Isle of Islay was due to be completed by the end of September, nearly a year late, with the other three ferries following at six-monthly intervals.
Its arrival is keenly awaited on Islay, where islanders are faced with being served by a single ferry on the main route to the mainland from October.
In announcing its winter timetable last week, CalMac said the ferry was scheduled to enter service between Kennacraig on Kintyre and Port Ellen and Port Askaig on Islay in late November. That would follow CalMac trials after reaching Scotland.
Isle of Islay, which can carry 450 passengers and 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles, was launched at the Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Yalova on time in March last year and was originally due to be completed seven months later, in mid-October.
However, in a series of updates to the Scottish Parliament’s net zero, energy and transport committee, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) announced that it had been put back by two months to December, then to March this year, and then by a further three months to June. The delivery date was later revised to September.
The ferry’s second set of sea trials were completed in July after the first in June, when Cmal’s director of vessels Jim Anderson said: “The team at Cemre have made good progress in the build programme for the vessel, and we continue to work closely with the shipyard as we move into the final stages of the build.”
Cmal said in that announcement on July 22: “The vessel has returned to the Cemre Marin Endustri quayside, where she is undergoing further outfitting work. The vessel is due to be delivered in Q3 of 2025” - between July and September. Cmal clarified that it was due at the end of September.
The trials in the Sea of Marmara included testing the vessel’s battery energy storage system, and its power and energy management systems. Mr Anderson said successful testing of the hybrid system “marks a significant step forward in completing this new vessel”.
The duration and reason for any further delay remain unclear, but Isle of Islay’s delivery date has been previously postponed by a shortage of specialist workers, parts supply problems caused by the Ukraine war, and instability in the Middle East.
Yard workers were also redeployed to assist in the aftermath of a major earthquake in Turkey.
The second ferry, Loch Indaal, which was launched in June last year, is also earmarked for the Islay route and expected to be finished in March next year.
The other two, Lochmor and Claymore, are due to be deployed on the Little Minch routes between Skye, Harris and North Uist to provide a two-vessel service compared to replace the single ferry Hebrides operation.
Lochmor was launched a week ago and is scheduled to be completed in September next year, followed by Claymore in March 2027.
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