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The Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne, Dr Harold Mills, has welcomed confirmation of Mr Peter Timms as his successor.

Dr Mills steps down as Chairman of CalMac at the end of July and will be succeeded by Mr Timms, who is presently a member of the Board of CalMac.

The three-year appointment was announced on Monday 3^rd by Minister for Transport, Tavish Scott MSP. Mr Timms will take over as Chairman of CalMac from August 1^st 2006.

Mr Timms lives on Bute and has been Chairman and Managing Director of Flexible Technology Limited, a company based in Rothesay, since 1981. He was first appointed to the Board of CalMac in July 2000 and was re-appointed in July 2003.

A warship crew, who had been taking part in the international exercise Neptune Warrior, found themselves caught in a real fight while berthed in Stornoway Harbour.

An armed guard helped to repel boarders after a crewman, injured in a fight with two local youths, was chased up the gangway of the minesweeper HMS BLYTH.

The alleged attackers refused to obey the armed guard, who had his gun drawn but used a baton to fend off the youths.

Based at Faslane, the Sandown Class minesweeper HMS BLYTH is a familiar sight among the Western Isles.

Delays are being experienced on the Oban-Craignure route causing a back up of vessels waiting to use the linkspan at Oban. On Wednesday 7^th ISLE OF MULL was running twenty minutes late during the afternoon meaning that both HEBRIDEAN ISLES and LORD OF THE ISLES ran late as a consequence.

This is due to the large numbers of passengers boarding on the 1000 run when the ship sits at Oban for thirty minutes therefore allowing plenty of time for everyone to get on board. Unfortunately the crew have only fifteen minutes between sailings at Craignure to disembark the Oban passengers, load up again and sail back to Oban.

The Chairman of Mull Community Council has written to First Minister Jack McConnell, the local MP and MSP and the National Farmers Union secretary, Euan Warnock regarding weight, height and length of vehicles, business cheques, lack of crewmembers on some ferries and low morale among residents and crew.

The 0945 sailing from Port Ellen was late in leaving today (08/07) after jammed brakes prevented an HGV from disembarking. HEBRIDEAN ISLES departed for Kennacraig at 0951.

The Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne, Dr Harold Mills, has revealed how the controversial decision to run a Sunday ferry service to Harris caused a lot of soul-searching. The new service breached the island’s strong Sabbatarian traditions, and in doing so, caused offence to some in the Hebrides.

He said: “I didn’t go for the first sailing, but the issue did cause a lot of soul-searching. But in the end what we were doing was responding to a request for a service from customers”.

“We had representations from a community seeking the service (the Uists). We also had the representations from those who considered a Sunday service would not be right (Harris and Lewis). Both cases were robustly made”.

Dr Mills, who retires at the end of this month, has no regrets about the decision. He compares the situation with that of Western Isles Council who are presently looking at building a causeway across the route followed by the ferry, which would be open seven days a week.

Dr Mills does not see a service between Lewis and Harris and the mainland starting in the foreseeable future as nobody has asked for such a service.

Greenock born Dr Mills was immersed in the Clyde traditions of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. He very much regrets that he will not be around to see CalMac go through the tendering of its routes demanded by European Commission regulations.

The tendering is set to go ahead later this year. It will require CalMac to split itself in two, with one with one arm bidding to operate the network while the other owns the fleet and pier infrastructure.

Dr Mills will find it difficult to leave CalMac. Over the past seven years the company has talked about and prepared for the bidding process. He would like to have been there to lead the bid. “ After all that was the brief in front of me when I was appointed seven years ago” he said.

The minehunter, HMS RAMSEY, one of eight such vessels recently transferred to Faslane, has made her first visit to Tobermory.

The ship’s company was keen to establish links with communities around the Western Isles and chose to become affiliated to Tobermory.

The ship is also affiliated to the town of Ramsey on the Isle of Man and has strong links to Manx organisations including Ramsey’s Royal Naval Association.

In her first visit to Tobermory a number of guests were invited on board and shown around by Lieutenant Commander McKay and his crew.

It is hoped that during her next visit to Tobermory school children will be able to visit the ship and it will be open to the public.

HMS RAMSEY is the tenth of the Sandown Class of minehunters to enter service and the third ship to bear the name. She was built from glass-reinforced plastic by Vosper Thorneycroft (UK) Ltd at Southampton. She has a ship’s company of five officers, seven senior ratings and twenty-two junior ratings.

The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry ISLE OF LEWIS was involved in an exercise held on Sunday 16^th to test Stornoway Coastguard maritime rescue co-ordination centre, the coastguard tug ANGLIAN PRINCE and the Highlands and Islands Fire Brigade (MIRG team) in their response to an offshore fire fighting incident.

The incident involved an engine room fire on board the ISLE OF LEWIS, while returning to Stornoway with 38 crew on board and no passengers. One crewmember was in a serious but stable condition.

The ANGLIAN PRINCE was sent to assist the ferry, which was drifting without power having shut down the main engine.

The Highlands and Islands MIRG team was flown from Stornoway Airport to ISLE OF LEWIS by helicopter, once the tow was underway.

The fire was brought under control and extinguished by the crew assisted by the fire fighters. The injured crewman (a dummy) was lifted from the ship by coastguard helicopter and taken to hospital by ambulance.

The tow was connected in Southwest winds up to force 7, with the ferry drifting without power.

The exercise was judged to have been realistic and of great benefit to the Emergency Services in a live situation.

The following cruise ships will be calling at various ports among the Western Isles during the month of August:

ASTORIA Oban 0800 – 1900 2^nd, Stornoway 0800 – 2300 3^rd, Ullapool 0730 – 1730 4^th then to Invergordon.

KRISTINA REGINA Stornoway 0900 – 1700 17^th, Tobermory 0900 – 1700 18^th then to Dublin.

HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS Lochinver 27^th, Ullapool 28^th, Gairloch 29^th, Inverie 30^th, Oban 31^st. Times unknown then to Colonsay.

The August edition of Ships Monthly includes a feature on the cruise ship HEBRIDEAN PRNCESS formerly the car ferry COLUMBA.

The feature opens by describing the circumstances in which COLUMBA and her sisters HEBRIDES and CLANSMAN were built and operated initially by David MacBrayne Ltd and then by Caledonian MacBrayne. The three ships entered service in 1964.

After ISLE OF MULL entered service in 1988 COLUMBA was sold at the end of the season and sent to George Prior Engineering Ltd, Great Yarmouth for conversion to a luxury cruise ship and renamed HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS.

The bulk of the feature describes her service as a cruise ship and includes an interview with her Captain, Clive Parton in the Bridge Visit column.

This week a very special guest boarded the ship for a cruise round the Hebrides to Aberdeen.

Her Majesty The Queen has chartered the ship as part of her birthday celebrations.

HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS will follow the route taken by the former Royal Yacht BRITANNIA and will sail round the north of Scotland, taking The Queen and her family to Aberdeen and then on to Balmoral Castle.

There was a strong police presence at the North Pier, Oban where the crew loaded supplies prior to sailing to Port Ellen, Islay where The Queen boarded the ship.

Ships Monthly also carries a feature entitled 40 Years of Excursion Ships highlighting the sea-going ships which provided day excursions around the coast of the British Isles when the magazine was first published.

The only David MacBrayne vessels in service by that time were KING GEORGE V (1926), LOCH FYNE (1931) and LOCH NEVIS (1934).

The first to be withdrawn was LOCH FYNE (1969) followed by LOCH NEVIS (1970) and, finally, KING GEORGE V at the end of the 1974 season. All three were built by William Denny & Brothers, Ltd.

Note: A rare picture of the COLUMBA, CLANSMAN and HEBRIDES together at the Hall, Russell & Co shipyard in Aberdeen is featured on the July page of the Club Calendar. The photograph was taken by Morgan Studios and is included in the Calendar, courtesy of J Birse.

Caledonian MacBrayne has clarified its policy on dealing with ambulances following an alleged incident on Saturday 17^th June in which a Mull woman, suffering from cancer, had an eleven hour journey to hospital after a space had not been reserved for the ambulance on the 1600 ferry to Craignure.

The local MSP, George Lyon, has written to CalMac Managing Director, Lawrie Sinclair. Mr Lyon referred to an apparent agreement for spaces to be reserved on ferries for ambulances.

CalMac and the Scottish Ambulance Service have confirmed that no such agreement exists with both parties confirming that emergencies should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

If an emergency space is needed on board a ferry then someone is asked to give up his or her space in return for a free journey on a later sailing.

On Saturday 17^th June no emergency request was made. Had it been then CalMac would have created a space on board the ship. The ambulance was stood down at 1530 having never appeared at the ferry terminal. A helicopter was called out but could not land on the island. The Oban lifeboat was called out at 2133 and the patient taken off the island.

The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that it has never been refused shipment at Oban and prefers to deal with matters locally as and when required.

When ambulance transport is required patients will normally be delivered to Craignure where they will be transferred to the Oban based ambulance, which has been brought over on the ferry.

The ferry ISLE OF MULL has an ambulance room on board where outpatients are accommodated.

Mr Sinclair will be writing personally to the family of the woman concerned to set the record straight.

An informal meeting between Colonsay Community Council and Caledonian MacBrayne has taken place on the island in order to explain the current problem with van charges.

The meeting was requested after new vehicles belonging to local firm, McLennan’s, were exposed to a higher ticket rate band.

It was suggested that if the present service was withdrawn, the community might be able to run its own service. It was understood that according to the tender conditions the ferry company was obliged to run a freight service. It was also suggested that there should be a 50% reduction on return sailings to Oban because the vehicle was usually almost empty.

In the meantime the Community Council is contacting McLennan’s to confirm in writing that there will be no changes in freight rates or in the delivery service due to the present situation regarding freight charges.

According to The Oban Times Those Were The Days Column the new ferry service across The Sound of Harris, which opened ten years ago, was an outstanding success.

The new ferry, LOCH BHRUSDA, offered four return sailings every day during the summer.

Caledonian MacBrayne has confirmed that the company has been granted, subject to completion of agreed operational issues, an extension to the sailing hours on the Sound of Harris service between Berneray and Leverburgh.

From the start of the winter timetable on October 22^nd, the ferry sailings will be extended by one hour before sunrise.

The Marine Coastguard Agency, the regulatory authority on these matters, has agreed to review the position in January with a view to possibly reviewing the sailing times to one hour after sunset.

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Petrie has tabled a question to Tavish Scott, Transport Minister, regarding Caledonian MacBrayne’s pricing policy for commercial vehicles.

Mr Petrie has asked why CalMac has “removed the ability for commercial vehicles to purchase subsidised six-journey ticket books for vehicles of five metres or less and on which specific routes this will apply”.

Some island hauliers have criticised the company for applying the commercial rate for small vans.

Employees at the ARTIC PENGUIN, the three-masted schooner, which is moored at Inveraray Pier, arrived at work on Wednesday 19^th to find that vandals had caused £1,200 of damage on the ship.

The ARTIC PENGUIN houses the Inveraray Maritime Museum. The owners of the pier may now close the area to the public at night.

Islanders were left disappointed after two Clydesdale horses named Jock and Lauren missed out on a two-day visit to Tiree because their horsebox could not be properly secured while on board ship.

Mr Tom McMillan, from Bute, had been booked on board CLANSMAN to sail to Tiree from Oban on Friday 21^st. However the horsebox was unable to board the ferry because the vehicle had insufficient lashing points to hold it in place while at sea.

Mr McMillan was taking his horses to the Tiree Agricultural Show and a demonstration the next day at Balephetrish.

Mr Hugh Dan McLennan, Caledonian MacBrayne’s Head of Communications said that The Roll On-Roll Off Ships: Stowage and Security of Vehicles Code of Practice stated that any vehicle weighing more that a plated weight of 3.5 tonnes must be secured with lashing points.

Islanders asked why the horsebox was able to cross from Bute the previous day. Mr McLennan said the Colintraive – Rhubodach route is a specified inland crossing and is not subjected to the same rules.

The Oban Times Glasgow Letter Column, this week, describes the adventures of a family going on holiday to Stornoway during the 1950s.

It sounds like a major exercise in forward planning. In those days families could go away for the entire duration of the summer holidays. Luggage would be packed into trunks and sent ahead while the family made their own way a week or so later.

This family started their holiday in the early hours of the morning at Glasgow’s Queen Street Station where they would catch the train to Mallaig. The journey would include a stop at Crianlarich where the passengers disembarked for a cup of tea in the station tearoom, which is still going strong today.

On arrival at Mallaig they would hurray down to the harbour where LOCH SEAFORTH was waiting to convey them to Stornoway, a sail of seven hours duration. Passengers for Applecross were transferred to a small boat, which pulled up alongside. After a brief halt it was full steam ahead for Stornoway.

A new Sunday air service from Stornoway to Inverness will start on Sunday September 10^th. The service, operated by Highland Airways, will mean that Stornoway now has a service to both Edinburgh and Inverness on the Sabbath.

Lewis has had Sunday flights since 2002 when British Airways began flying to Edinburgh.

Observers now believe there will be increased pressure for Sunday sailings from Stornoway to Ullapool on the mainland.

Island pubs are now open on Sundays. One shop, which doubles as a filling-station, is also open.