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| October 2006 news Caledonian MacBrayne is to conduct an in-depth survey on the Island of Mull to assess the community’s perceptions of the service offered.
The move follows meetings held on the island recently when the Company was criticised for allegedly “pandering to tourists” and failing to put islanders interests first.
The survey will take place over a three-week period starting on Monday October 9th. It will be conducted on board ISLE OF MULL, at various locations on Mull and at terminals, and will be conducted by independent analysts.
Those involved in the survey will be clearly identified and will be travelling on the ships at various times during the period. They will approach customers at CalMac terminals, in car parks and in various locations around Mull.
The questionnaire lists a series of questions about frequency of travel, mode of transport, reasons for travel and preferred times. The survey will also involve an assessment of shipboard and onshore staff and will offer the chance to make positive suggestions as to whether any improvements may be made to CalMac’s operation and services.
CalMac will publish a summary of the survey results around mid-November and will report back to the Mull Community Council on the outcome.
Source: The Oban Times/Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
Caledonian MacBrayne has presented its annual report and financial statements for the financial year ending March 31st 2006, which detailed structural changes, implemented in response to the tendering process for the Clyde and Hebridean ferry services.
The report shows a Group loss for the financial year of £1.9 million after receipt of deficit funding.
The Company experienced a £1.8 Million (3.6%) increase in fares revenue to £51.7 Million and an £11.3 million (15.5%) increase in operating expenditure to £84.3 million, which included increased pension costs (£4.1 million, fuel charged (£3.7 million) and staff costs (£2.4 million).
Capital contributions of £16 million have been provided by the Scottish Executive to accommodate the financial impact of the restructure. £12 million of this has been accounted for in this financial year and the balance will be accounted for in 2006-07.
The company met all its targets for the year as agreed with the Scottish Executive, whereby performance is measured in terms of service reliability and punctuality as well the relationship between fares income and operating costs.
Outgoing Chairman Dr Harold Mills noted several highlights for the year including: ISO 14001 accreditation achieved, BUTE taking up service on the Wemyss Bay – Rothesay route, work on the second linkspan at Oban underway, the launching of the new vessel for the Rothesay route and a new vessel for the Largs – Cumbrae route.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne.
ISLE OF ARRAN was due to carry out freight duties between Kennacraig and Islay over the weekend but ended up storm bound at Port Askaig on the evening of Friday 6th. After completion of her Islay sailings, she will head for Tobermory, where she will assume spare vessel duties.
HEBRIDEAN ISLES was stormbound at Kennacraig on Friday. The service resumed as per timetable on Saturday morning at 0700.
Due to a combination of tides and the weather the 1800 and 2230 sailings ex Oban and the 1700 and 1900 sailings ex Craignure were cancelled.
The sailing to Colonsay was also cancelled.
On Saturday 7th the Oban – Lochboisdale and return sailings were cancelled after LORD OF THE ISLES suffered a technical failure.
This evening’s (08/10) 1730 service to Colonsay was cancelled. The next service will be at 1700 tomorrow.
On Saturday 14th October the 1425 service from Mallaig to the Small Isles will call at Eigg and Rum only. There will be no calls at Muck or Canna. LOCH NEVIS will be away for her overhaul between Saturday 14th and Wednesday 1st November. An amended timetable will operate on the Small Isles route.
CANNA is due back at Rathlin on Wednesday 11th. RAASAY has been deputising on the Rathlin service during her absence.
Source: Ships of CalMac/Caledonian MacBrayne.
08/10/06.
Following on from the report posted on 18th November 2005, the former British Waterways tug SCOTT II has been re-floated at Ardyne where she had been abandoned. She was pumped out at low tide by a green goddess fire engine, having sunk about six months ago.
SCOTT II, which should be back at Ardmaliesh by now, has been purchased by a man from England who is hoping to restore her.
Many thanks to Dave Turner for the information.
CLANSMAN suffered from steering difficulties on Saturday 7th.
LORD OF THE ISLES was out of service on Tuesday 10th after having a problem with controls in the engine room. Repairs were carried out while she was tied up at the Lighthouse Pier. ISLE OF ARRAN deputised for her on the Barra and Lochboisdale run and the return sailing on Wednesday.
ISLE OF LEWIS was using the old linkspan at Stornoway on Wednesday while her usual one was being serviced. The old linkspan is normally used by MUIRNEAG.
Source: Ships of CalMac/The Oban Times.
RAASAY arrived at Mallaig on Friday 13th and berthed in the outer harbour at 1300. She then move round to the Loch Nevis berth, waited until LOCH NEVIS unloaded having arrived from the Small Isles, and then changed places with her. She then departed for Eigg and Rum with ten passengers on board at 1430.
LOCH NEVIS arrived back from the Small Isles at 1355. After loading crew cars, she moved round to her own berth and loaded passengers for Muck where she was calling on the way to Gourock. She departed from Mallaig at 1425 with fourteen passengers and five crew cars. ETA at Gourock is 0800 on Sunday 15th. She should enter the Garvel Dry Dock at 0800 0n Monday.
Many thanks to Iain McPherson for the information.
15/10/06.
Caledonian MacBrayne has confirmed a new overhaul contract with Corpach Boatbuilding Company, Corpach near Fort William, which could go a long way towards offering the yard continuity and security for the future.
Two of the three ships in the CalMac fleet due for overhaul this autumn have now been completed, with CANNA the latest to be returned to service.
Speaking at the yard, John Salton, CalMac Technical Manager said: “ The continuity this order gives ourselves and the yard is mutually beneficial and with the investment planned for the site at Corpach, we have a very strong operator bidding for our work in what is a very competitive and demanding area. We have been tremendously impressed with the quality of work produced at Corpach and the commitment and flexibility of the workforce. Their extension from work in the yard itself to being able to effect repairs and maintenance while our ships are in service is an added bonus offering the fleet further flexibility. The yard has plans for further investment in a new slipway, which could see them bidding for work on some of our bigger ships beyond the Island Class, which this current contract covers. Eventually the yard could cope with our bigger vessels up to nearly 65 metres and that is another great option for us when allocating work”.
The three CalMac ships covered by the new contract this year are CANNA and RAASAY which have already been overhauled and EIGG, which will be going to Corpach around the middle of February in 2007.
While the new arrangement is a three-year contract, a break clause is included which allows for the possible eventuality of CalMac Ferries Ltd not winning the tender for Clyde and Hebridean services. Should CalMac Ferries Ltd fail to win the bid, this contract with Corpach Boatbuilding Company for the overhauls would lapse. CalMac Ferries continues to maintain the fleet on behalf of the owner, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne www.calmac.co.uk
17/10/06.
Any hopes of restarting the ferry service between Campbeltown and Ballycastle by next summer are in tatters after the Northern Ireland Office decided to pull out of its part in the reinstatement of the service.
The Office confirmed last week that it was withdrawing its share of the £300,000 per year subsidy.
The Scottish Executive’s decision to have a ferry route was based on a jointly funded project between themselves and the Northern Ireland Office. The Executive will now reassess the situation having received this disappointing news.
The ferry service closed in February 2000 after three years of operation. Various bodies have been trying to get it going again ever since.
Two operators have expressed an interest in tendering for the route.
Source: The Oban Times.
Following on from the report posted on 18th February 2006, wildlife cruise operator Jeff Ward, has taken over the running of the Camusnagaul ferry, which sails between Fort William Pier and Camusnagaul on the other side of Loch Linnhe.
Known locally as the Treslaig ferry, Highland Regional Council has invited tenders for the operation of the service from January 2007 until 2011.
The council ferry is currently out of service for the annual overhaul. Jeff, who sails under the name of Sea Ventures Scotland, normally takes groups of tourists out into Loch Linnhe and beyond looking for dolphins and whales. He said local people were having a great time on his boat. He is sub-contracted by the council to keep the service going until December 31st with the same timetable as usual.
Source: The Oban Times.
Police arrested a man for an alleged breach of the peace offence after jumping off ISLE OF MULL as she docked in Oban on Saturday 14th. He swam to the side of the pier, climbed out the water, and ran away.
LORD OF THE ISLES is due in Aberdeen on Monday 23rd for her annual overhaul.
Source: The Oban Times. Further information from Iain McPherson.
21/10/06.
Caledonian MacBrayne launched its 2007 Explore brochure at the Royal National Mod in Dunoon on Thursday 19th.
Explore 2007 is CalMac’s main leisure brochure and should be an essential tool for anyone planning a holiday among the twenty-two islands and four peninsulas in CalMac’s network. This year new suggested island itineraries for each area have been introduced along with CalMac tips on what to see and do around the islands.
The brochure includes CalMac’s timetables from 22nd October 2006 to 29th March 2007 (Winter) and 30th March to 20th October 2007 (Summer) and a selection of accommodation advertisers.
CalMac has also confirmed that as the Company cannot guarantee to be the operator of the Gourock – Dunoon service beyond the end of the winter timetable in March 2007, all references to the service (including as part of combine tickets such as Hopscotch) have been removed from Explore.
The Company also reports that the website has seen a great increase in traffic over the previous year, increasing from an average of 500,000 hits per month in 2005 to 700,000 hits per month in 2006. This is an indication of the importance of this channel as a means of communicating with their customers.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
LORD OF THE ISLES was seen passing through the Pentland Firth this evening at 1930. She should be arriving at Aberdeen around 0600 – 0800 tomorrow morning.
Source: Ships of CalMac www.shipsofcalmac.co.uk
22/10/06.
LORD OF THE ISLES entered dry-dock in Aberdeen on Monday 23rd. Her former fleet-mate, CLAYMORE, had just vacated the dry-dock having been prepared for winter service across the Pentland Firth.
The Colintraive – Rhubodach service was suspended on Wednesday 25th after grounding on the slipway at Rhubodach on Bute at 1845. She was carrying four cars, three passengers and four crew. As is normal practice she was taken out of service for an underwater inspection. There were no injuries to those on board nor was there any damage to the cars.
The David MacBrayne Ltd cargo vessel, LOCH CARRON, was launched at the Ardrossan Dockyard on Thursday 26th October 1950 and entered service in April 1951. She was Yard No 413 and was equipped with engines built by British Polar Engines Ltd, Glasgow. She was sold from the Company in 1977 after twenty-six years of service.
ISLE OF LEWIS was stormbound at Stornoway on Thursday. The next sailing, weather permitting, was on Friday morning at 0715 from Stornoway.
The Tarbert – Portavadie service was suspended due to the weather. The situation was reviewed at 1400.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne/Ships of CalMac/Duckworth and Langmuir “West Highland Steamers”.
Caledonian MacBrayne’s Ullapool – Stornoway route, which lost £4 million last year, is to become the subject of a pre-Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance study (pre STAG).
Chairman of the Western Isles Transportation Committee, Donald Manford, sees this as an ideal opportunity to ensure that a decent service is provided for people in Stornoway, as well as to re-awaken the debate on the re-newal of the Mallaig – Lochboisdale route.
Having instigated the appraisal, Councillor Manford feels that the Mallaig – Lochboisdale route could move from an option to reality.
The pre-STAG appraisal for the Ullapool – Stornoway route will assess two options. The first is to put on one vessel that can run during the day and at night. The second is to have two smaller vessels that can manage the route between them. This would be instead of having two vessels with two crews and one of them always lying idle.
Once the decision has been made CalMac can give up its lease on the freight vessel which runs at night, which will reduce the cost of the service. ISLE OF LEWIS, which runs during the day, would become available.
A vessel could then be committed to the Mallaig – Lochboisdale route, for which people on Uist and Barra have been crying out.
Source: The Oban Times.
The Oban Times Those Were The Days Column reports that a plea was made for a vehicular ferry service to the Island of Eriskay at a meeting of the Western Isles Council transportation committee, which took place on Thursday 26th October 1976.
Source: The Oban Times.
27/10/06.
The Club President for the next two years, Arthur McDonald, opened the new Session of Winter Meetings on Friday 27th with a talk from Professor Donald Meek who is Professor of Scottish and Gaelic Studies at Edinburgh University. His talk was entitled “The Blackboat of Smoke-West Highland Steamships in Story and in Song”.
Donald was born and brought up on the Island of Tiree. He went to school in Oban and, having to travel by ferry to and from his home, became well acquainted with the ships, which plied their trade among the islands. His favourite ship, perhaps inevitably, was CLAYMORE (1955). The islanders became very attached to their ships and Tiree was no exception. They were most disgruntled when LOCH SEAFORTH replaced their ship in 1973. Perhaps they looked upon the grounding of this ship, when passing through the Sound of Gunna, as poetic justice.
Steam came to the Western Isles in1812 with the advent of COMET. She entered service from the Crinan Canal to Fort William in 1819. Unfortunately she was wrecked in December 1820.
Other steam ships were also in service among the islands in those early days. The names of MAID OF MORVEN, HIGHLAND CHIEFTAIN, BEN NEVIS and BEN LOMOND come to mind.
Donald opened his talk by showing the members a painting by J M W Turner, which portrayed a small steamship against a backdrop of a dark brooding sky. In the painting one can just make out the Island of Staffa, which looks almost insignificant in the turbulent scene. The steamer is MAID OF MORVEN and she is portrayed with black smoke belching out of her tall, spindly funnel.
Imagine the sight of a ship approaching a remote Highland harbour with black smoke belching from the funnel. This scene, to the Highlanders, is the “Black Boat of Smoke”.
There are interesting parallels to the advent of steam trains on the railways. In the industrial centres of Scotland and England people were frightened of steam locomotives. They thought they were going to blow up.
However the people of the Highlands and Islands were more romantic. They responded to the coming of steam “In Story and in Song”. One can imagine the soft lilt of the Islanders talking, singing and reading poetry to each other as they made their way home from Glasgow. One can also imagine the banter among the crewmembers as they struggled to maintain course in the strong currents, which are prevalent throughout the islands.
Any talk about the influence of steamships on the Gaelic community cannot fail to mention ships such as DUNARA CASTLE, which was built for Martin Orme & Co in 1875. She passed into the ownership of McCallum, Orme & Co and, briefly, David MacBrayne, Ltd before being scrapped in 1948. Donald also mentioned HEBRIDES (1898), which was built for John McCallum & Co. It is easy to forget that “Hebrides” is not a David MacBrayne name. Finally Donald could not fail to mention CLAYMORE built for David MacBrayne, Ltd in 1881.
Donald concluded his talk by bringing us up to date by talking about Caledonian MacBrayne. It is obvious that, although the islanders of today do not love the ships as they did in previous generations, they are still held in affection. The people of Mull, for example, very much regard ISLE OF MULL as their own ship.
It is also obvious that the present day ferries have reached their maximum size and speed.
Having been born and brought up on Tiree, Donald has immersed himself in both the Gaelic culture and the history and development of the ferries, which have faithfully served the Western Isles for many generations. His talk, which was well received by those present, was both interesting and educational but most of all, as one would expect from a true West Highlander, entertaining.
The core interest of the West Highland Steamer Club is “To maintain an interest in the vessels and operations of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd and their predecessors serving the West Coast and Western Isles of Scotland”. This has never been more evident as this core interest was at the heart of the talk given by Professor Donald Meek.
Duncan Wilson gave the vote of thanks.
Having concluded the main business of the evening Robin Love gave an update of recent shipping movements.
Robin is accepting subscriptions for the forthcoming Session. The subscription remains £12.00.
The 40th Anniversary Calendar 2007 is available to members. The price of the Calendar is £5.50 if purchased at a Club Meeting. The price, including postage and a stiff backing board, is £6.00.
As last year the Calendar is available in a twelve page format in limited numbers and will be available at a price of £8.00 including post and packaging on a first come first served basis. A normal Calendar will be supplied if the special edition is sold out and a refund issued.
The Calendar has been produced with the Club’s forty years in mind and, in the main, includes photographs of vessels, which have served the highlands and Islands during the Club’s existence.
In addition it was considered essential to include some in recognition of two members who contributed to the photographic side of the Club, namely the Late Jim Airman-Smith and the Late Hamish Stewart.
The front cover of the Calendar portrays HEBRIDES (2001) arriving at Uig. Lawrence MacDuff took the photo from the high road, which overlooks Uig Bay.
Once again Calendar Editor Gordon Law is to be congratulated in producing another excellent Club Calendar.
The next Meeting is on Friday November 24th when Lawrence will give an account of his trip around the Western Isles during the summer with his restored MacBraynes bus in a talk entitled “The Hopscotch Grand Tour”.
31st October 2006.
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Contact WHSC: info@westhighlandsteamerclub.co.uk