Minister to attend meeting over South Uist ferry 'crisis'

Scotland's transport secretary, Fiona Hyslop, is to attend a "crisis" meeting later, called by islanders on South Uist over disruption to ferry services.The direct route to the mainland from the second largest island in the Outer Hebrides is currently served by a ship restricted to carrying just 45 passengers. A business group said the island's economy had been suffering from years of unreliable ferry services due to lack of investment. On the eve of the meeting, the Scottish government announced it was creating a £4.4m resilience fund to help islanders during the current difficulties.
South Uist has been under particular pressure recently as state-owned ferry operator CalMac struggles with a shortage of ships while it awaits replacements for its ageing fleet. Winter maintenance has uncovered new problems with several vessels, forcing CalMac to rejig its schedules and move ferries onto different routes. MV Lord of the Isles, which normally sails between Lochboisdale on South Uist and the mainland port of Mallaig, is deployed elsewhere until mid-May. A replacement vessel, MV Isle of Mull, although designed to carry 900 passengers is currently restricted to just 45 - the number that can fit in the traditional lifeboats. This is because of a fault with its emergency evacuation chute system. Instead of sailing to Mallaig, it travels to Oban, 85 miles away from the normal scheduled port, which adds more than four hours to the crossing time.
John Daniel Peteranna, from the South Uist Business Group which is hosting what it calls a "ferry crisis summit", said the island's economic potential in areas like seafood, distilleries and tourism was being stifled. He said businesses had suffered five years of reputational damage due to unreliable transport links to the mainland. "When we set up the business group three years ago we didn't think things could get any worse but they have surprised us," he told BBC Scotland News. The meeting will be attended by local MSPs as well as representatives from CalMac, although the operator's chief executive and chairman will not be present.The business group will be asking for more details on the resilience funding and whether more can be done to improve services until the return of Lord of the Isles in May.It will be also be seeking an update on plans to replace the 36-year-old vessel and upgrade the harbour facilities at Lochboisdale.
The Scottish government said it was working out eligibility criteria for the resilience funding, and this would be discussed at the meeting.Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: "We know that the current situation of delays and ongoing maintenance to some vessels has created real difficulties for some. "We are determined to do everything we can to support islands, their local businesses and employers through these challenging times."
Vessel shortage
CalMac said it had put on extra sailings from South Uist to Barra, which offers an alternative route to Oban on the mainland. The firm's chief operating officer Diane Burke will attend the meeting. A spokesperson said: "We recognise the current challenges with our major vessel fleet has led to disruption on a number or routes, particularly on South Uist. "We've been in regular contact with local representatives throughout this period of disruption to ensure the community is kept informed about the service."Two ageing vessels MV Hebrides and MV Caledonian are currently undergoing repairs, while MV Hebridean Isles was retired from service late last year. Ferries procurement body CMAL is awaiting the arrival of the first of four new CalMac ferries being built in Turkey, but these are delayed and the first vessel MV Isle of Islay is not expected until later this summer. The long-delayed MV Glen Sannox, built by the Ferguson Marine shipyard, is now in service on the Arran route but its sister ship MV Glen Rosa is still under construction and a new update on its delivery is awaited.CMAL said the redevelopment of Lochboisdale and the replacement of MV Lord of the Isles were both dependent on funding approval by Transport Scotland.

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