CalMac set to announce Troon to Arran freight-only service

But speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme on Monday, the ferry company's chief executive Robbie Drummond still did not know when the 'Irish berth' at Ardrossan - closed since January 18 - might be open for use once again.

Mr Drummond said welding work was taking place in Troon to allow the MV Alfred to use the South Ayrshire port for freight haulage.

The move follows a string of ferry cancellations on the Ardrossan to Brodick route, caused by storms, the port's Irish berth being closed on safety grounds following a dive inspection, and the route's main ferry, MV Caledonian Isles, remaining out of action until March after its return from overhaul was delayed.

Mr Drummond told the programme: “The community absolutely deserve a high quality service and I am sorry when we can’t provide this.

“Despite the  challenges, our focus remains on delivering the best service we can, using the tools we have.

“But we have two immediate problems. First, the Caledonian Isles has been delayed on its overhaul because of the increased need for steel repairs.

CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond (Image: Newsquest)

"We had to send her down to Liverpool to get these done. She will be returning in early March.

“The MV Alfred we charter has been a great support to Arran since she joined us, but the problem is she is not able to use the Irish berth in Ardrossan.

“Peel Ports advised us on January 18 that the Irish berth was closed after a critical inspection and we still don’t know when that’s going to be open.

“The Alfred is not able to use the main berth in Ardrossan, so we are working very hard to get the use of the Alfred through Troon into Brodick. We expect to make an announcement on that later today.

“We have to get work done first at Troon, so the harbour is welding steel plates onto the linkspan that will enable us to use it. So that has to be tested so we can safely move traffic over those steel plates.

“It is important to say that we have got the Isle of Arran ferry, who celebrated her 40th birthday last year. She is working on a continued basis, still so that’s a single vessel service.

"She is a smaller vessel but we are hoping that the Alfred will operate initially a freight service and that will take some of the pressure off the normal route.

MV Caledonian Isles isn't expected to return to service until early March (Image: Charlie Gilmour)

“I am hoping that we will get better news from Ardrossan, that the Irish berth can be brought back into operation, which will solve some of the issues.”

Troon is already set to be used as the Brodick ferry's mainland port when Ardrossan closes for upgrade work to allow the harbour to accommodate Arran's two new ferries, MVs Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa. 

But there is currently no date for when that closure might take effect after the Scottish Government announced last year that it was re-evaluating the project amid concern at rising costs.

Peel Ports said last week that it expected it would be the end of January before the company had enough information to decide whether it's safe to bring the 'Irish berth' back into use.

Arran councillor Timothy Billings told the BBC Radio Scotland programme: “Last year in the winter months we saw a cancellation rate of 19 per cent. In 2017 it was actually down at five per cent, which is what we would expect.

MV Isle of Arran is operating a single-vessel service between Ardrossan and Brodick (Image: Sharon Dalgoutte/Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald Camera Club)

“We expect there to be weather issues. Every so often it can happen. But actually the level of cancellations happening now is far more significant and far more damaging to all aspects of Arran life.”

Mr Drummond revealed: ”One third of our fleet is above its expected lifetime. We are spending lots on maintenance and doing all we can to make the service as resilient as we can.

“Arran should have had two new vessels and a brand new harbour over five years ago and we are having to continue to run the service we can with the vessels we have available to us.

“The positive news is there will be 16 new vessels joining the fleet over the next four years so we can all look forward to a much more resilient and better capacity service, which is what the communities absolutely deserve.

“We will provide absolutely the best service we can.

"We are confident that the Caledonian Isles will return in March so the community can return to its normal two vessel service and we are all hoping for a successful summer period for the island."