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| January 2005 news The local inquiry into Caledonian MacBrayne’s second proposed ferry linkspan will start on February 2nd in the Studio Theatre of the Corran Halls, Oban. CalMac says it needs the second linkspan to develop ferry services to Mull, Coll, Tiree, and Colonsay and as a back up to the existing linkspan in case it fails. The inquiry is expected to last for three days. Local boat and fishing Associations are concerned that the second linkspan will half the berthing facilities available at the present time. Caledonian MacBrayne’s mainland call centre facility will be replaced by a new call handling system enabling customers to reach their point of contact quicker than before. Customers will be given a choice of options depending on the nature of their enquiry. The hiring of a cruise ship is being given consideration by the National Mod to avoid an accommodation crisis when the Mod is held in Stornoway this year. The ship under consideration can sleep 450 in 222 berths. The hire would cost £300,000 but An Comunn Gaidhealach would hope that visitors to the Mod making use of the ship would offset a third of that. Tuesday and Wednesday 11th and 12th of January will long be remembered for the hurricane force winds, which swept over the country damaging property and disrupting travel services. Shipping services on the Clyde, North Channel, the Western and Northern Isles were all suspended or severely disrupted. However it is to the credit of the companies concerned that most routes were running within twenty-four hours. In Oban, police closed the esplanade as waves crashed over the sea wall. In Fort William, the cruise booking office on the pier was destroyed and the Crannog Restaurant, also situated on the pier, flooded out. In Ardrishaig both the inner and outer sea lock gates of the Crinan Canal Basin were left open. This was only possible because the Canal had been drained for the winter. To stop the possibility of damage to the gates both were left open allowing the tide to flow in and out. An interesting sight to see. Does anybody have any photos? The Latvian cargo ship SEA FOX faced the danger of capsizing after her cargo of timber shifted thirteen miles from the coast of Tiree. A quantity of timber was lost overboard. The Sea Fox, on route from Riga to Liverpool, was escorted into Castlebay by the Barra lifeboat and helicopters from Prestwick and Lossiemouth. Although there was no obvious damage to the ship, the MCA inspected the ship before deciding whether she could continue her voyage. A mobile crane was brought in to unload the ship. Following up last months report on the upgrading of Campbeltown Harbour, Argyll and Bute Council will spend £4.77 million on the harbour boosting the long-term prospects for the Kintyre area. Improvements include widening and strengthening the quays and dredging the inner harbour. Cruise ships will benefit as they will now be able to berth alongside the quay. Other harbour news includes an upgrade to Stornoway’s harbour slipway costing £400,000. Trawlers, small ferries and fish farm boats use the slipway, owned by Stornoway Harbour Authority. A £2 million improvement scheme for Mallaig Harbour is on hold following a dispute over work already carried out on the harbour. The dispute, between Mallaig Harbour Authority and the civil engineering companies involved, was over a design fault which made it difficult for fishing boats to unload their catches in a heavy swell. Although the dispute has been resolved, legal costs have ruled out any more improvements for some time. From the Oban Times “Lochaber Lines” column published on Thursday 20th comes this snippet. Plans to cut the thrice-weekly steamer service between Fort William and Oban during the summer of 1965 were attacked by tourist and trade officials in both towns. The Monday, Wednesday and Friday service by RMS KING GEORGE V from Fort William and Oban to Staffa and Iona will be cut to Wednesdays only. The reason given for the change is that MV LOCH NEVIS, which undertook the cruise on Monday and Friday, will be employed on the Islay mail run. A letter is printed in the same edition of the paper in which the writer, Mrs Suzanne Forman who lives on Barra, complains about ferry services between the island and Oban over the festive period. Her departure from Barra, on Monday December 20th due at 09.35, did not take place until 10.30. Mrs Forman, travelling with her three year old son, makes particular mention of conditions on board ISLE OF ARRAN, which she described as “appalling”, when returning to Barra on 30th December.Mrs Forman concludes her letter by accusing CalMac of “resting on its laurels” and wonders if the service would improve if the routes were put out to tender. The Managing Director of CalMac, Mr. Lawrie Sinclair has replied to the letter to the Oban Times. It has become apparent that the writer, Mrs Suzanne Forman, wrote to CalMac without telling them she had also written to the Oban Times. In his letter he acknowledges that the passenger accommodation on the ISLE OF ARRAN does have its limitations. However on December 30th the company was faced with the decision to use the ISLE OF ARRAN, the relief vessel, or not sail at all. He also pointed out that, due to the mishap at Oban Pier with the ISLE OF MULL, the LORD OF THE ISLES was restricted to a set number of routes and could not be deployed on the Outer Isles service. Given the exceptional circumstances Mrs Forman’s request for compensation was turned down. Following repairs to her bow, the ISLE OF MULL left Greenock at about 09.15 on Friday 21st. She then headed up Loch Long where she appeared to carry out some form of trials. IOM then berthed at Gourock to load crew cars before heading up to Oban. Meantime, with CALEDONIAN ISLES back on the Clyde, CLANSMAN also headed back to Oban. LORD OF THE ISLES is going down to Birkenhead for overhaul ETA Monday 24th. HEBRIDEAN ISLES is making for the Orkney Islands to relieve on the Scrabster-Stromness run. ISLE OF ARRAN should take her place. Following up the November report on the Glenelg ferry, hopes of maintaining the link to Skye were given a boost as the Highland Councils’ Working Budget Group recommended a contribution of £50,000 be put towards the purchase of the ferry. The community company, The Glenelg and Arnisdale Development Trust, wants to buy the six-car ferry. The Trust aims to raise £150,000 to buy GLENAHULISH, the last turntable ferry in Europe, upgrade the slipways, and market the service Captain Ron Bailey, Clydeport Harbour Master, addressed the Club on January 28th. Those present at the Meeting went home well satisfied after what turned out to be a very interesting evening indeed. Captain Bailey started by saying a few words about himself, his career at sea before joining Clydeport in 1997. Peel Holdings is a property company, which bought the Manchester Ship Canal and a shareholding in Manchester Docks with a view to building offices, homes and shops on derelict docklands and has done so with remarkable success. The company has also expanded into airport development. Peel, looking for a company with expertise in port operations, bought out Clydeport, the largest port area in Europe. Captain Bailey then showed slides of the various port operations on the Clyde- coal at Hunterston, containers at Greenock Ocean Terminal and animal feed at Sheildhall. Increasing exports of timber are expected at Ardrishaig and Sandbank where two new berths are planned at the former Robertson’s Yard. Twenty-seven cruise ships are expected at Greenock and two at Inveraray this year. Of greater importance is the relationship with the Royal Navy as Loch Long and Gareloch are classed as Dockyards. Among the slides was an aerial shot of Hunterston Sands, where Ron is confident the new Container Terminal will be built. The talk continued with the deployment of pilots and slides of the seabed taken by using new surveying equipment. The evening finished with a question and answer session. Gordon Law asked about the possibility of the QUEEN MARY 2 coming to the Clyde. Captain Bailey replied by saying that the ship would take up the full length of the GOT but new bollards would have to be built. Ian Park asked if the railway line into Sheildhall would ever be reopened. Given the value of the land, Captain Bailey replied by saying it would be unlikely. Other questions involved the dredging of the Clyde to which Captain Bailey gave a commitment that Clydeport had a dredging programme in place. Iain Quinn gave the vote of thanks. The evening finished with a general discussion on CalMac and other shipping developments. There are still a few Club Calendars left for sale. The next meeting will be on February 25th when the Speaker will be Hamish Stewart. His talk is entitled “From MV Hebrides to MV Coruisk”. Duncan Wilson 29th January 2005.
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