The first of four ferries being built in Turkey for CalMac will be delayed by supply and staffing problems, the Scottish Government’s vessel-owning firm has announced. Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) said Isle of Islay, which is due to take over sailings to the island next year, was likely to be delivered some two months late at the end of this year. It told MSPs on Thursday said materials and equipment were taking longer to arrive because of unrest around the Red Sea and the war in Ukraine.
In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s net zero energy and transport committee, Cmal chief executive Kevin Hobbs said: “External challenges have impacted the delivery date for Isle of Islay which will move the delivery date from the previously advised mid-October towards the end of 2024, still within the contractual delivery period. “It is not clear at this present time to provide you and stakeholders with an exact delivery date with the known work still to complete, but initial assessments indicate a couple of months. “Global supply chain events have affected the schedule for the supply and delivery of materials and equipment, which has been challenging for all new build shipbuilding contracts.
“The incursion in the Red Sea means that much of the main equipment is routing around the Horn of Africa, adding many weeks to journey times. “There have been major challenges the yard has had to overcome in the programme: the war in Ukraine affecting the supply of steel [and] thedevastating earthquake in south eastern Turkey, which led to a serious loss of manpower in the shipyard, with many of the workers and subcontractors travelling to the region to assist in the rescue operations.” Isle of Islay will have space for up to 450 passengers, and 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles - a 40 per cent increase.
There was no mention of potential delays when the ferry was launched in March, which had followed indications that work on the four vessels might even be ahead of schedule. A second vessel, Loch Indaal, which was launched at the yard in June, is also being built for the Islay route, with the two others earmarked for the Skye-Harris-North Uist traingle. In Thursday’s letter, Mr Hobbs said the ferry had “different challenges to overcome” as the first of a new design of standard CalMac major vessels, but he said the relationship between Cmal, CalMac and shipyard Cemre Marin Endustri was “strong”.
He said the ferry was at the “outfitting stage and entering the commissioning phase” with the main engines and generators successfully running. Mr Hobbs said: “The quality of the workmanship and construction of the vessel is fully meeting requirements, with high levels of activity, supervision, engineering and co-ordination. “The ship layout, compartment arrangement and access and flow throughout is excellent.
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