CalMac to trial Isle of Man ferry on Arran route

Scotland's west coast ferry operator CalMac is to conduct trials of a large ferry from the Isle of Man on its Arran route with a view to possibly chartering the vessel.

MV Ben-My-Chree, owned by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, is currently used as a back-up vessel after a new ship the Manxman entered service last year.

The ship is due to arrive to Scotland later this week for berthing trials at Troon on the mainland and Brodick on Arran.

CalMac said it was working on back-up plans as it faces a difficult winter with some vessels out of service and others undergoing scheduled maintenance.

CalMac interim chief executive Duncan Mackison said: "We are being proactive in identifying options to add resilience and capacity to the network during what will continue to be a challenging winter.

"This vessel is larger than those currently serving Arran and would add capacity to that service whilst freeing up a vessel to move elsewhere.

"This is just a trial, and a full charter will be subject to agreement from multiple parties. Should this be reached, we will review and publish a plan on wider vessel deployment."

Ben-My-Chree - which means "girl of my heart" in the Manx language - is 125m (410ft) long and wider than the CalMac vessels that normally serve the Arran route.

Since its launch in 1998 it has primarily served the Heysham-Douglas route, but was replaced by MV Manxman late last year.

A service agreement means it must remain available as a back-up vessel for Isle of Man services at certain times of the year.

CalMac is anticipating a difficult winter season and is looking at options to maintain services.

The main Arran ferry, MV Caledonian Isles, has been out of action since February and repairs to a new fault with a gearbox are expected to take at least another fortnight.

MV Hebridean Isles is due to be retired next month as it needs recertification and it is not economical to maintain the ship any longer.

The dual-fuel ship Glen Sannox, being built at the Ferguson shipyard, was due to be handed over two weeks ago, but a revised delivery date has yet to be confirmed.

CalMac will then have to carry out crew familiarisation trials and the new ship is booked in for two weeks of annual maintenance inspections in December, so Glen Sannox is unlikely to be in service before January.

Other large vessels in the CalMac fleet will also have to be withdrawn for scheduled annual maintenance over the winter.

CalMac is already chartering one vessel, the catamaran Alfred, to maintain services to Arran, at a cost believed to be £1m per month.

The state-owned ferry operator has only received one new large vessel, the Loch Seaforth, in the past decade, and many of its 10 largest ships are now beyond their expected service life.