Scotland's busiest ferry to be out of service for at least another four weeks

Disruption to Scotland’s west coast ferry network is “inevitable”, the operator has said as an aging vessel is expected to be out of service until at least mid-November.

The 31-year-old MV Caledonian Isles usually serves the route between Ardrossan, North Ayrshire and Brodick on the Isle of Arran – the country’s busiest.

But the ship has been out of service since January for major repairs, with its return delayed multiple times.

Late last month, the ship filling in on the route – the MV Isle of Arran – was taken off the run for annual maintenance, causing disruption across the network.

As a result, operator CalMac has extended a temporary deployment plan to the end of the summer timetable on October 20 and warned of regular reviews of the timetable and which vessels operate on which routes.

“We did anticipate a difficult winter, with our major vessels spending a record number of days in annual maintenance, and it is shaping up to be just that,” said CalMac interim chief executive officer, Duncan Mackison.

“The combination of MV Caledonian Isles ongoing technical issues and the start of this year’s maintenance window has created a perfect storm for ferry services.

“We have a baseline deployment plan for the winter timetable period which allows for MV Caledonian Isles being is in service.

“Now, we are likely to have to regularly review where vessels are deployed to try and maintain services across the whole west coast.”

He added: “Our priority is to keep communities on the network informed of our plans, and meet service demands wherever we can.

“However, it is in inevitable there will be some disruption and on behalf of CalMac I apologise for that.”