The £1 million per month charter of the MV Alfred from Pentland Ferries is due to expire on Saturday (February 28), leaving CalMac with less resilience across the ferry network.
The catamaran is due to head for an annual overhaul after having its charter extended several times over the past three years.
However, the BBC has reported there have been discussions about extending the charter again, potentially to cover gaps on other routes, like Oban–Barra, where MV Isle of Lewis is in extended dry dock. But Transport Scotland has stated that no extension has been agreed.
The official charter expiry date on Saturday comes as the new Turkish-built ferry MV Isle of Islay arrived in Greenock on Sunday. The new ferry is expected to enter service next month, which CalMac appears to be gambling this will reduce the need for Alfred’s continued hire.
Originally announced in March 2023 as a nine-month charter to CalMac, the catamaran's load period has been extended on numerous occasions to provide backup for ferry services, including those in the Western Isles.
The cost of the charter since May 2023 has reached more than £17 million, £3 million more than Pentland Ferries paid to buy the vessel outright in 2019.
Meanwhile CalMac has announced the need for additional steelwork on MV Isle of Lewis, so they're reviewing deployment plans between early March and the end of May.
Steel wastage was discovered on top of a fuel tank. This will need to be repaired to get the necessary regulatory approvals to return to service, and a temporary repair is unlikely to be possible. The drydock operator has advised that the timeline for the work could be up to three months.
Fuel has been drained from the tank, and there is equipment including the sewage treatment plant, ballast pumps, fire pumps and associated pipework that needs to be removed to complete the steel renewal. The removal, reinstatement and commissioning of this equipment contributes to the timeline.
MV Isle of Lewis will therefore not be available for the remainder of winter or the start of the summer timetable, and her overhaul is going to run through MV Hebrides' (27 February - 13 April), MV Loch Frisa's (16 March - 7 April) and MV Finlaggan's (20 April-8 May) planned overhauls..
However,. MV Caledonian Isles returned to service this week, providing five returns per day between Ardrossan-Brodick. Works on MV Glen Sannox works are virtually complete as well.
"We are now reviewing vessel deployment from March through to May, to ensure we can provide a service to Barra whilst maintaining services across the wider network. We will keep colleagues and communities informed and expect to provide more detail further next week," says CalMac
