CalMac announces temporary ferry timetable after MV Hebrides pulled over firefighting system issue

CalMac has announced a temporary timetable for some services after a ferry was pulled after the vessel developed a fault with its firefighting system.

On Wednesday, the MV Hebrides was removed from Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert route, causing sailings between Skye, North Uist and Harris to be severely disrupted.

The MV Hebridean Isles was redeployed to provide a service on the route, which began at 4.30pm with a sailing from Oban to Lochmaddy.

A lack of replacement vessels will result in Islay temporarily going down to a one-vessel service.

Replacement timetables will be published as soon as possible on the CalMac website and Twitter feed.

The fault with the firefighting system on MV Hebrides is a safety issue and means that the vessel cannot legally operate until this is fixed – but engineers hope that repairs will be completed by Friday this week.

The boat previously underwent repair work in May after striking a pier on Uist.

Robbie Drummond, managing director of CalMac, said: “Disrupting services is a decision we do not take lightly, but as this was a safety matter, we had no choice but to remove the vessel from service; we fully understand how this affects our customers and the communities we serve.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and our team is working hard to bring MV Hebrides back into service as soon as possible and return all vessels to their normal timetabled services.”