General Chat

Florence, have you been watching the documentary series about Calmac? (BBC Scotland, Sunday repeated Tuesday). It is very interesting and last night's was about the Stornaway ferry and the problems caused when it needs its annual maintenance.

I didn't realise that it is the only one that big, and does tourists all day and freight all night! It can carry 20 large lorries at a time and the replacement ones can only take 6, so keeping the islands supplied is a major headache. :-|

Now one of the ones being built will be delayed more as there aren’t enough staircases :-S :-S

That's a minor problem, Names!! They are on our news at regular intervals. There are two or three under construction, all are years overdue and because of escalating costs, way over budget.

At the moment there is a "discussion" going on between the contractors, Calmac bosses and the relevant government department about who should pay the extra. It shows no sign of being sorted, and meanwhile Calmac are struggling to keep the islands supplied, using 40 year old ferries that keep breaking down.

It is the Glen Sannox, I don’t know which route she would have been on.

But it seems another case of appalling planning. Were the designs not checked and passed? I’d say it was unbelievable … but it is isn’t it.

Well, yes indeed, I have been watching the programme and saw people that I actually know lol

The ferries are a complete nightmare. Most are over the 25 year lifespan so now we are seeing regular breakdowns as you would expect. If our main ferry the Loch Seaforth breaks down, we are completely stuck as yes that is the freight ferry as well.

If the SNP had put as much energy into getting us a decent service and had these new ferries built on time as they do campaigning for Independence we might have new ferries!! They do indeed have a lot to answer for and NF did nothing for us.

All it takes is for 2 cancelled sailings and the food shops start to deplete of everything.

There was a big enquiry about the tendering for the building of these 2 ferries quite recently and I think questions were raised that it was rigged? i'm sure it is ongoing? Haven't read anything about it recently. It was a complete shambles and the whole fleet is slowly falling apart due to age.

If these new ferries plus others being built in Turkey are not ready soon, the whole of the islands will be on their knees including the inner Hebrides as well

Many small businesses in B & B business have gone bust as customers cancelled booking due to the unreliable ferry service.

Florence in the hebrides

Rigged? Had to be.
But then the everyday needs of the islanders are NOWHERE as important as the SNP desire for independence.

names, wait til the next general election. i hope people will eventually wake up and smell the coffee!

I found it on catch-up after seeing this post, as it's my sort of programme. I had no idea BBC Scotland was received down here in Kent.

I watched episodes 5 and 1, happy memories of trips out from Oban in the 70's with my Dad. Talking of which, the ferry from Oban to Craignure was The Clansman. I saw in one of the episodes that the Oban to Coll and Tiree ferry now is The Clansman, surely it can't still be the same one?

Duncan....yes it is the Clansman!!!!

I use to live in Kent Duncan but dad is in Sussex and he gets BBC Scotland on Freesat/Freeview. If you are interested, channel 9 on Freeeview is BBC Scotland, Sky 101, Freesat 106. There is also BBC Alba on Freeview channel 7 where programmes are in Gaelic with subtitles but often feature programmes of the local areas in the highlands and islands.

I dont think any of the ferries are under 25 years! A disaster waiting to happen.

It's quite possible, Duncan. This is the problem and the cause of most of the trouble - the ferries are all well past their sell-by date!

Referring back to the Glen Sannox. It was on last night's news and apparantly the MCA (people who are responsible for safety at sea) have said that it needs three more staircases and the passageways, which run the length of the ship on each side, need to be widened.

The ferry is for the Arran route across the Clyde, and the residents are desperate for it to come into service. This is now indefinitely delayed - to comply with the MCA requirements will mean rebuilding half the ship. To quote Names - it would be unbelievable, if it weren't true. :-| :-|

You really couldn't make it up could you!!!

I was looking at the ferries' history online.
It shows the Lochseaforth built in 2014.... Does that frequently break down too?

Gwyn, that is the ferry we use to get off island and thankfully hasnt broken down too many times but its away for its annual refit just now so the Isle of Lewis is covering but it has a smaller capacity for lorries etc.

When I came here in 1993 we had the Suileven, never broke down and sailed in nearly all gales. That was replaced with the Isle of Lewis but we had a separate freight ship back then,

So Loch Seaforth was built bigger to reduce the need for 2 ships as it would do a freight service at night time with a different crew. But if it broke down with major problems, we then would have a major problem!

Just in case people are confused, Florence, BBC Scotland isn't available on Freeview in all areas of England. We can't seem to get it here and channel 9 here is BBC4. I do watch a fair bit of BBC Scotland as I like some of the crime programmes but I watch it on iPlayer. I'm now going to see if I can get that programme about the ferries on iPlayer.

Ah ty suffolkvera if I have that wrong. Didn't realise it might vary depending on where you are but yes the Iplayer will have the programme on it.

Yes the programmes are on iPlayer, i have checked Sky Channels from beginning to end and BBC Scotland not there.

Florence, as Loch Seaforth serves Stornoway, you are in the same neck of the woods as my cousin. Looks lovely there.