Islanders left with no ferry service in Uist after MV Hebrides hits pier

Islanders in Uist have been left without a ferry service to the mainland as a result of the MV Hebrides being damaged after hitting a pier.

On Wednesday night, the vessel struck Lochmaddy pier leading to all of its sailings being cancelled on Thursday including sailings between Uig on Skye, Tarbert on Harris and Lochmaddy

It comes after the MV Lord of the Isles, was withdrawn from service on Tuesday for essential repairs.

All sailings on the Tarbert, Uig and Lochmaddy routes on Thursday have had to be cancelled to allow engineers to assess the damage.

It underwent a temporary repair to allow her to travel to James Watt Dock in Greenock tonight, which has specialist welding facilities, for permanent repair.

A timescale for return to service will be confirmed once full assessment of required repairs has been carried out.

The MV Isle of Arran will be redeployed from the Ardrossan-Brodick-Campbeltown route to cover the Kennacraig-Islay route in a bid to protect lifeline services.

MV Loch Bhrusda will operate additional sailings will operate on Barra-Eriskay.

The Ardrossan-Campbeltown route will be cancelled from Friday – however, Thursday’s scheduled sailings will go ahead.

A spokeswoman for CalMac said: “This is a significant disruption for our communities, and we sincerely apologise for this at what is already a very difficult time for them with the loss of MV Lord of the Isles.

“Our immediate priority is to ensure lifeline services such as food supplies and urgent medical care can be transported.

“Removing vessels from routes is always a very difficult decision and one we would rather not make, but our options are extremely limited, and this is the only way to protect lifeline services at short notice. This redeployment means that all islands will continue to receive a service during this current disruption.

“We are keeping customers informed and will provide another update as soon as a full assessment of the required repairs has been completed in Greenock.”

Repairs to MV Lord of Lord is expected to be back in service on the Mallaig-Lochboisdale route next week.