On Monday 31 August I wrote about the amended timetable because the Isle of Arran Ferry was deployed elsewhere due to another ships' breakdown. This wasn't the first time that the Isle of Arran Ferry had been called away to assist on another route to act as relief vessel. It was already the fourth time this year and not appreciated by tourists and locals to say the least, who had to reschedule their sailing or were confronted with longer waiting times than usual. Time for action and that's exactly what Argyll and Bute Liberal Democrat MP Alan Reid did yesterday in a meeting with Calmac when he said: 'Delays like this are appalling because, as well as inconveniencing islanders and local businesses, they damage tourism.' Continue reading.....

Now I can imagine Calmac would at least try to search for a solution but I was a bit astonished when I read the comments made by Calmac: A CalMac spokesman said the breakdown was highly regrettable, adding: “We can only apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused.” He said: “We are aware of suggestions that another vessel should have been sourced to cover this service, but the vessels we use are specially designed for the waters off the west coast of Scotland, and we know from extensive research that extra vessels capable of operating in these waters simply do not exist. “This means our ability to deal with breakdowns and other incidents is extremely limited and we can only ask customers for their patience and understanding.”

Now what Calmac really was saying in my humble opinion was that this situation is likely to occur again and the people on Islay, their businesses and the tourists have to deal with it. Calmac is apparently not willing to even look into a solution, they just seem to ignore the fact that there is a problem at all and count on your patience and understanding whenever timetable alterations occur. After all, all they really can do is apologise, go figure!

Tag: calmac ferry travel