Displaying items by tag: Ferries relocated
Bad Weather on Firth of Clyde Sees CalMac's MV Hebridean Isles Forced to Relocate to Ayr
On the Firth of Clyde a Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) ferry which has been plagued by technical problems for almost six months, has been seen at a berth in Ayr harbour.
The port of Ayr, operated by Associated British Ports is located south of Troon and also Ardrossan from where the ferry route connects Brodick, Isle of Arran.
The 1985 built ferry MV Hebridean Isles, one of oldest in the fleet, made for an unusual sight at Ayr as CalMac was forced to change the usual berthing arrangements for its ageing Arran ferries due to the bad weather.
Hebridean Isles was seen arriving into Ayr on the morning of Tuesday, 1 August in a passage from Troon which Afloat adds took around 40 minutes to complete and the ferry remains in Ayr this morning, 3 August.
The 494 passenger ferry, one of two serving Islay-Kennacraig, Isle of Mull (see above Afloat photo) was deployed to the Arran run but has been unable to operate since February because of 'manoeuvrability issues'. This has forced CalMac to charter the 430 passenger and vehicle catamaran, MV Alfred, from private operator Pentland Ferries serving South Ronaldsay, one of the Orkney Islands.
The 3,040 gross tonnage Hebridean Isles has been berthed in Troon (see Arran 'freight' run) in efforts to continue to try and fix technical problems.
Due to the "lack of space" however, Hebridean Isles was forced to head for Ayr, as the bad weather was forecast on the Clyde which also restricted the use of berthing facilities at Ardrossan harbour.
A spokesperson for CalMac said: "Due to adverse weather forecast on Wednesday, August 2, MV Caledonian Isles will berth overnight on the Irish berth in Ardrossan tonight (Tuesday, August 1)".
"As a result, MV Alfred will relocate to Troon for overnight berthing tonight. Due to lack of space at Troon, and to accommodate the relocation of MV Alfred, MV Hebridean Isles has been requested to temporarily move to Ayr."
More from theAyr Advertiser on the Clyde route and the redeployment of the Isle of Arran, the second routine ferry on the Ardrossan-Brodick route.
