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DATE |
NEWS |
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31/03/07 |
Clyde:
Presumably the parts the Isle of Arran was awaiting have
turned up as she left Garvel Drydock shortly before midnight last night
and after trials berthed at Gourock top wires about 0230 this morning.
She will then make fro Oban to assist the Lord of the Isles.
It would appear that Loch Riddon is now lying
in at Largs. Updates to follow.
"Ferry Service Restored" Gourock - Dunoon (internal link) |
Bute at Rosneath Today |
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Western Isles:
Isle of Arran is currently heading for Oban (ETA 1900) to take up
service there, along with Lord of the Isles providing the
two-ship Inner and Outer Isles services, while Clansman remains
at Uig for the time being.
Eigg is now sporting a new rescue boat as can be seen in the
picture below. The original one can be compared to her sister
Rassay's lying next to her. The new craft appears to be of RIB
construction.
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Isle of Arran Passing Her Namesake Island...Then Berthed In Oban
& Eigg + Raasay in Oban Today |
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Rathlin Ferries:
Caledonian MacBrayne have confirmed that agreement had been reached in
principle to extend its contract to operate the Ballycastle -Rathlin
Ferry Service until March 2008. Rathlin Ferries Ltd has been
established as a wholly owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Limited, to
run the service, and continues to trade under the CalMac brand. From
30th March Canna will operate four return crossings per day. |
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30/03/07 |
Clyde:
It is possible that workers on Hebrides are encountering problems
with her conversion, some black smoke was sighted yesterday, but still
no movement in JWD.
Isle of Arran's return to service on the 02/04/07 on the Islay
roster is looking doubtful. She is still currently awaiting a new
propeller from abroad to be fitted.
Western Isles:
Clansman is undertaking an extra crossing
back to Uig tonight from Lochmaddy. She will need to return to Lochmaddy
for 0700 tomorrow to take up the service again. This is due to
tomorrow's Oban - South Uist - Oban service operated by the Lord of
the Isles being cancelled. The traffic has been diverted to
Lochmaddy - Uig to get the traffic back to the mainland via the Skye
bridge or by Armadale - Mallaig. |
Hebrides in JWD Yesterday |
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29/03/07 |
Clyde:
Juno has been absent once again this morning - presumably still
undergoing repairs at Gourock to her engine. The CalMac website reports
a one vessel service on the Wemyss Bay - Rothesay roster, though
AIS has shown her as underway for at least the last hour.
Update 1207:
Juno is travelling up and down the lower
firth at the moment, presumably on trials.
Bute is currently is berthed at Rosneath jetty and has
been for the last couple of days. Coruisk departed from same site
a few days ago.
Update 2030:
Juno has just returned to service with an
extra sailing ex Wemyss Bay - Rothesay dep 2010 suggesting she is
now repaired.
From the Buteman:
No Extra Easter Ferries for Rothesay...
CALEDONIAN MacBrayne has backed away from a plan to provide three car
ferries on its Rothesay-Wemyss Bay route over the Easter weekend - in
the face of vociferous opposition from Dunoon.
The company had considered bringing all three ‘streakers’, Juno, Jupiter
and Saturn, to the Rothesay run for at least Good Friday and Easter
Monday to cope with the volume of holiday weekend traffic while MV Bute
is still barred from the run because of the Rothesay pier reconstruction
work.
But after an outraged reaction from Dunoon’s councillors, and a similar
response from MSPs, the company opted to stick with the present
situation of having two streakers at Rothesay and one at Dunoon, with
the chartered catamaran Ali-Cat used on the Dunoon peak passenger
services as normal.
Dunoon councillors Dick Walsh and Brian Chennell tabled an urgent motion
at a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council last Thursday calling on the
Executive to ensure that both Dunoon and Rothesay routes operated as
normal over the holiday weekend.
And though we understand that using all three streakers at Rothesay was
CalMac’s preferred strategy, with Cowal vehicle traffic still having the
Western Ferries option, the politicians’ protests bore fruit in the end.
Rothesay’s two remaining streakers will, however, sail through their
lunch breaks and will operate later than normal on Easter Monday if
required to clear any backlog.
Meanwhile, far from having the services of three streakers, the Rothesay
run was served by only one such ship for part of Sunday, and most of
Monday, after a burst cooling pipe ruled MV Juno out of action.
On a brighter note, a date has been identified for MV Bute to return to
Rothesay for the first time in more than four months to test whether the
building work has reached a stage where it is safe for her to berth.
Saturday, April 14 has been earmarked for the Bute to carry out berthing
trials ahead of her return to the route, from which she has been missing
since early January because of mono-piling work at the site of the new
linkspan.
But contractor Balfour Beatty is hoping that the much-delayed work on
Mono-Pile Number One - the sticking point keeping the larger vessel away
- could be completed in a little over two weeks, allowing the Bute room
to berth safely while work on the linkspan and pier continues around
her.
That would finally ease the capacity pressures suffered on the route in
recent weeks - and would at least be in time for the equally busy jazz
festival period at the beginning of May.
It would also come little more than a week before MV Juno's extended
passenger certificate runs out.
The Bute left her lay-up berth at the King George V Dock in Glasgow on
Monday and had her hull surveyed by divers at Sandbank in the Holy Loch
the following day before making for Rosneath in the Gare Loch. |
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28/03/07 |
Clyde:
Update on current Clyde Fleet Locations: Due Soon...
Western Isles:
Kennacraig - Colonsay & Oban - Colonsay:
Another alteration to schedules are the Wednesday services
operated to Colonsay.
Due to the delays in completing the works at Port Askaig, there has had to be a
revamp of the schedules on the first three Wednesdays of the summer timetable,
and the revised timings are given below:
Hebridean Isles
0745 dep Kennacraig
1005 arr Port Ellen
1025 dep Port Ellen
1305 arr Colonsay
1720 dep Colonsay
2000 arr Port Ellen
2020 dep Port Ellen
2240 arr Kennacraig
Lord of The Isles
1530 dep Oban
1750 arr Colonsay
1805 dep Colonsay
2025 arr Oban
NorthLink:
Hascosay is due in
Dry dock until 03/04/07 for annual overhaul.
The freight roster is being maintained by the Clare.
Past Fleet News - On
This Day...
In 2006 Strike action took place, as a result no services could
take place on either upper firth routes all day. The action was out of
CalMac's control. |
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27/03/07 |
Clyde:
Juno is currently on the 2a roster, she will then be going to the
top wires tomorrow to repair a cylinder head gasket.
Bute was noted out this morning on the Clyde stretching her legs
after her overhaul.
Western Isles:
Lord of the Isles was noted running 15min early passing Fishnish
on Mull this afternoon outbound for Barra.
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Bute Stretching Her Legs Today |
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Customers are advised that due to the unavoidable delayed return to
service of Hebrides from annual refit there will be a number of
timetable changes to CalMac ferry services from Oban on Friday 30
March and Saturday 31 March 2007.
The services affected are as follows:
Friday 30 March 2007
Coll and Tiree
The 0600 Oban - Tiree - Coll - Oban 1315 service will now operate the
following
schedule:
1500 dep Oban
1830 arr Tiree
1845 dep Tiree
1945 arr Coll
2000 dep Coll
2255 arr Oban
Oban - Barra
The 1340 Oban - Castlebay - Oban 2340 has been cancelled. Customers are
advised to contact Caledonian MacBrayne to rebook on an alternative
service.
Oban - Craignure
The Oban - Craignure - Oban from 0745 - 1746 will operate as per
timetable.
The1800 Oban - Craignure - Oban 1946 has been cancelled. Customers are
advised to contact Caledonian MacBrayne to rebook on an alternative
service.
The 2230 Oban - Craignure service will now operate the following
schedule:
2320 Oban - Craignure 0006
Oban - Colonsay
The 1700 Oban - Colonsay - Oban 2155 service will now operate the
following schedule:
1800 dep Oban
2020 arr Colonsay
2045 dep Colonsay
2305 arr Oban
2320 dep Oban
0006 arr Craignure
Saturday 31 March 2007
Coll and Tiree
The 0700 Oban - Coll - Tiree - Coll - Oban 1500 service will now operate
the following schedule:
0700 dep Oban
0955 arr Coll
1005 dep Coll
1105 arr Tiree
1125 dep Tiree
1225 arr Coll
1235 dep Coll
1530 arr Oban
Oban - South Uist
The 0815 Oban - Lochboisdale - Oban 1910 service has been cancelled.
Customers are advised to contact Caledonian MacBrayne to re-book on an
alternative service
Oban - Barra
Subject to vessel availability, the 1530 Oban - Castlebay 2020 service
will operate either on time or be subject to a delay of less than one
hour. Due to traffic demand from the earlier Coll and Tiree service
there will be a requirement to operate this service via Tiree.
Oban - Craignure
The 0700 Craignure - Oban 0746 will depart 30 minutes earlier at 0630
instead of 0700. Services to Mull from 0730 will operate according to
the normal Saturday Oban - Craignure - Oban timetable.
CalMac Ferries will detail all changes to the timetable as they become
available and customers are advised to check the website,
www.calmac.co.uk,
to confirm their details of travel before departure. Up to date SMS text
messaging information is also available and details of this are also on
the company website.
CalMac apologises to customers for any inconvenience. Normal service
will be resumed as quickly as possible. |
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26/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Raasay has now adopted Burnishes' old role at Oban as
small stand-by vessel for the Northern Area.
Clyde:
Bute made her way from KGV Dock around 0915 this morning to The
Wires at Gourock, she berthed around 1130. |
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25/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Coruisk is expected to depart Craignure for Mallaig around
1030 this morning.
SoC Live!
Update 1200:
Coruisk has just rounded Ardnamurchan Point northbound for
Mallaig. |
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Coruisk Berthed at and Departing Craignure Today |
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24/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Update From Oban Area Today:
Isle of Mull on Oban - Craignure route, Eigg moored at
Oban pier, Lord of the Isles inbound to Oban. Loch Fyne at
Fishnish, Loch Linnhe at Tobermory, Coruisk was waiting at
Craignure for Isle of Mull to depart at 1700, she then headed for
the pier, presumably to berth overnight prior to heading west tomorrow |
Coruisk Approaching the
Sound of Islay Today |
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23/03/07 |
NorthLink:
Hrossey returned to service after re-fit with a delayed departure
from Aberdeen in the early hours of 21/03/07. She had been scheduled to
take the evening sailing from Lerwick on Monday 19th but, due to heavy
weather, she sheltered off the Isle of Man for around 18hours after
dropping her Liverpool Pilot in Douglas Bay.
The Buffalo Express is again being chartered in September to
provide extra capacity for livestock movements. The charter is initially
for 6 weeks but with an option to extend if required. In future years it
is hoped to use purpose-built 20ft livestock containers which can be
carried on the Company’s normal vessels.
[News Courtesy of
Ferry Publications] |
New Crew Cabins on Hrossey |
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22/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Ullapool - Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
The vessel is running 15 minutes late on the 1345 sailing from
Stornoway due to technical reasons. She is due to arrive in Ullapool at
1645. |
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21/03/07 |
Loch Portain sailed today for the Outer Isles where she will
relieve Loch Bhrusda at Berneray. The Loch Bhrusda will
then return to Barra and allow the Loch Tarbert to return to the
Clyde ready to resume the Claonaig - Lochranza service at the start of
the summer timetable.
Clyde:
Tidal conditions have led to disruption on the Largs -
Cumbrae Slip service. Loch Alainn was off duty between 0700 and
0900 and will be off again from 1830 - 2000. This will be repeated
through the week until Friday.
Western Isles:
Isle of Lewis
is running late today due to a combination of weather conditions and
volume of traffic. Lochnevis is making an additional call at Rum
today due to the volume of traffic on the Small Isles route. |
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| 19/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Loch Portain left Oban this morning and is now tied up in
Tobermory where she will remain until Wednesday morning. She had been at
Oban since Saturday.
Oban - Craignure (Isle of Mull)
The 0800 ex Craignure and 1000 ex Oban were cancelled this morning
due to poor weather conditions. The vessel sailed at 1100 from Mull and
then carried out an additional return sailing to Craignure at 1200. As a
result the 1200 sailing to Colonsay was cancelled.
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Loch Portain sitting at Tobermory |
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Lochboisdale - Castlebay - Oban (Lord
of the Isles)
This sailing was cancelled today as the vessel remained in Oban
yesterday.
Other services were cancelled throughout the network, due to bad
weather. It is also noted that the sand and seaweed problem at Tayinloan
also resurfaced, forcing Loch Ranza to sail on a passenger only
basis to Kennacraig today. |
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| 16/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Ullapool - Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
The vessel is currently running around 40 minutes late due to the
weather.
Mallaig - Small Isles (Lochnevis)
The call and Muck and the second call at Eigg have been cancelled
due to the weather.
Loch Portain sailed from Gourock this morning and called at Largs
in order to pick up crew cars. She is now (1515) passing between
the Cumbraes on her long journey back to the Sound of Harris and is
expected to stop at Campbeltown for the night after passing through the
Kilbrannan Sound. |
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| 15/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Oban - Craignure (Isle of Mull)
The 1300 sailing ex Craignure and 1400 sailing ex Oban were
today cancelled. The official report is that weather conditions were too
severe to sail, yet several reports to SoC claimed the weather had not
deteriorated at all.
Ullapool - Stornoway (Muirneag)
The 2330 sailing ex Stornoway and the early morning return from
Ullapool have been cancelled due to weather conditions in the Minch. |
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| 14/03/07 |
Terminal Information:
Oban:
The huge Mersey Mammoth has been in Oban as part of the
terminal developments. She has lifted the new linkspan onto its hinge
point adjacent to the terminal building. The blue linkspan is very
similar to that Dunoon, however instead of an overhead gantry and
vertical hydraulics, this one would appear to be adjusted with steel
cables in the same way as the now 30+ year old one just a few yards
away. There is still a lot of work required to finish what is currently
supposed to be the overnight ferry berth in time for the start of the
summer timetable at the end of this month.
Elsewhere in the network, it has been announced that the work taking
place at Rothesay is now some 9 weeks late. Juno has already had
to have her passenger certificate extended by two months in order to
provide cover until 22nd April, however if the works are not completed
to a stage that allows Bute to return to service by this point
then it is not clear how the service will be maintained.
There is still no sign of work commencing on the rebuilding/realigning
of Largs pier. This was intended to be completed by the time Loch
Shira eventually enters service later in the spring, however it is
currently anticipated that she will have to sail to Fairlie every night
for a berth, while the smaller Loch remains at the pier as normal. |
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| 13/03/07 |
Loch Portain left JWD today in order to run trials. After
successful completion of the trials she then berthed at the wires at
Gourock. |
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| 11/03/07 |
Clyde:
Hebrides is due at Gourock at 1400 today. Both her and Isle of
Arran will then move into Garvel Dry Dock at about 1430ish. |
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| 10/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Hebrides was noted passing Lochbuie on Mull at 2320 heading
Southbound towards Colonsay and onto the Clyde for her annual overhaul. |
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| 09/03/07 |
Clansman left Birkenhead earlier today and has passed out into
the Irish Sea. She will be sailing non-stop to Uig where she is due to
relieve her sister Hebrides on the Tarbert and Lochmaddy routes
from tomorrow afternoon. Hebrides will then sail for Garvel and
her annual overhaul.
Western Isles:
Hebridean Isles departed Port Ellen this evening at 1545 due to
the volume of traffic.
Clyde:
Isle of Cumbrae is back on the Clyde after her trip north.
Isle of Arran and Loch Portain have both come out of Garvel
dry dock today and are now back in JWD. |
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| 06/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Hebridean Isles arrived in at Port Ellen this morning at 1000 and
departed at 1030 this was due to late arrival and volume of traffic,
this afternoons arrival was 1550 and the departed at 1650 this was due
to the same reason.
Eigg has now moved up to Corpach for her annual overhaul and is
being relieved by her sister Raasay. With Raasay away from
her usual winter employment, Loch Linnhe is now back on her
regular route from Tobermory - Kilchoan. It is likely that, with the
annual overhaul schedule nearing its completion, she will probably
remain on the Ardnamurchan route until the autumn when she is required
to provide winter cover once more.
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Raasay at Oban slipway
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Isle of Cumbrae is no longer in Oban. It is likely that she is
making her way back round to the Clyde in readiness to resume the summer
Tarbert - Portavadie run.
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NorthLink:
Picture opposite shows the new crew cabins now in place on
the stern of Hrossey. The new accommodation block was
lifted on to the vessel at Birkenhead on 28th February.
 Bigger Picture
HERE (external
link to Ferry Publications) |
Cabins In Place
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| 05/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Hebridean Isles arrived in at Port Ellen at 1015 and departed at 1055, she
arrived in at Kennacraig at 1315 and then departed at 1415. She got so far
and turned back to Kennacraig this is due to the adverse weather. The 1800
sailing from Kennacraig tonight was cancelled, the next timetabled sailing is at
0700 Tuesday 6th March 2007.
Picture opposite is her departing Port Ellen at 1055. |
Hebridean Isles Today
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| 04/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Isle of Cumbrae has relocated down to Oban and is currently
tied up at the North Pier while she awaits
her next spell of duty. Loch Fyne is now back in service on the
Lochaline - Fishnish route.
Berneray - Leverburgh (Loch Bhrusda)
The 1330 sailing ex Berneray and 1440 sailing ex Leverburgh are
today cancelled.
Ardmhor - Eriskay (Loch Tarbert)
All sailings on this route are today cancelled. Next sailings will
be on Monday if the weather improves. |
Isle of Cumbrae Today
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Oban - Castlebay - Lochboisdale (Lord
of the Isles)
Due to adverse weather conditions the 1530 sailing to the Outer
Isles this afternoon will not sail. Consequently tomorrow's inward
sailing is also cancelled. The next sailing to Barra and South Uist will
be at 1530 on Tuesday as per the timetable.
Kennacraig - Port Ellen (Hebridean
Isles)
Due to the adverse weather conditions all sailings to Islay today
are cancelled, as is tomorrow morning's 0415 sailing from Port Ellen
Fionnphort - Iona (Loch Buie)
(1400) All sailings on this route are cancelled today, as is
the 0610 sailing from Iona to Fionnphort on Monday morning.
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Clyde:
Colintraive - Rhubodach (Loch
Dunvegan)
Due to the weather conditions, this service may be liable is
disruption and delays. |
Bute in KGV Today
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| 03/03/07 |
Loch Fyne left Campbeltown at around 0800 this morning to
continue her journey back to Lochaline. |
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| 02/03/07 |
Loch Fyne departed JWD this morning and made for Gourock where she tied
up at the wires briefly. She then made her way down the Clyde and
through the Kilbrannan Sound during the afternoon and is spending the
night in Campbeltown. |
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| 01/03/07 |
Western Isles:
Isle of Mull missed her 0800 sailing to Craignure and back. The 1000
round trip was also subject to disruption. The vessel had a steel rope
wrapped around her propeller and was unable to sail. The rope was
released by 0945 however problems with the anchor saw the 1000 sailing
delayed by 45 minutes. Lord of the Isles apparently carried out a
relief sailing however we are unsure of the times involved.
Hebridean Isles was running late this afternoon due to heavy
traffic. She left Port Ellen at 1605 - 35 minutes late. |
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