CalMac has revised its Strategic Vessel Deployment, Disposal and Cascade Plan following a round of community engagement in the first half of 2026.

The plan sets out how CalMac will deploy its major vessel fleet as new vessels enter service and older vessels are returned to CMAL. 

Details in the plan include deployments of new vessels and estimated timescales for these. 

Major vessels are scheduled to enter service between 2026 and 2027. These are MV Loch Indaal, due to enter service to Kennacraig-Islay in 2026 Q4; MV Glen Rosa, due to enter service to Troon-Brodick in 2027 Q2; MV Lochmor, due to enter service to Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy in 2027 Q2; and MV Claymore, also due to enter service to Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy in 2027 A3.

The deployments mean there will be two dedicated summer vessels for the Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy route, once the second ferry arrives, with a combined single vessel service in the winter.

CalMac reported the Barra community expressed a need to maintain the capacity they get from MV Isle of Lewis in summer, though recognised a smaller vessel would be suitable for winter capacity. To meet this need, CalMac will deploy MV Glen Sannox in summer and MV Hebrides in winter (though MV Hebrides will cover MV Clansman’s annual overhaul on Oban – Coll/Tiree/Colonsay).

The whole fleet revision has been hailed as improving resilience and reliability across the network in the future.

Final recommendations in the strategic plan were informed by detailed operational assessments across the CHFS network, including fleet resilience requirements, vessel condition and lifecycle considerations, and the need to deliver the best possible value for money within affordability constraints.

Community feedback also played an important role in shaping the final proposals, with CalMac seeking views from communities on routes directly affected by the potential cascade of vessels following the introduction of MV Glen Rosa, MV Lochmor and MV Claymore.

The plan sets out the expectation that MV Isle of Lewis and MV Caledonian Isles will be redelivered as MV Glen Rosa and MV Claymore respectively are delivered. MV Isle of Arran will remain as a resilience vessel until August 2027. No vessel will be redelivered when MV Loch Indaal enters service.

Starting with MV Glen Sannox in January 2025, CalMac expects to have welcomed six major new vessels to the fleet by summer 2027. When MV Isle of Arran exits in August 2027, four vessels will have been redelivered – the three outlined in the plan plus MV Hebridean Isles in November 2024.

This means CalMac effectively has two extra major vessels in the fleet than before MV Glen Sannox was delivered and fulfils the commitment in the Scottish Government’s Islands Connectivity Plan to ensure there is always a major vessel available for resilience.

Pauline Blackshaw, CalMac’s Director of Planning and Performance, said: “The introduction of six major new vessels will see a significant, positive change in the average age, profile, and condition of the entire major vessel fleet. The new tonnage benefits the whole network and has given us the opportunity to look at how the existing fleet is deployed.

“We’ve engaged extensively with several island communities and developed a plan which at minimum maintains, if not enhances, the service they currently receive even if they are not getting one of the six new vessels.

“The plan provides a vessel appropriate for the level of service each community not only needs, but wants, and allows us to provide certainty to communities in terms of what that service looks like in the coming years.”

'Improving Every Journey', CalMac's strategic vessel deployment, disposal and cascade plan, can be viewed here.