CalMac announces when it hopes Caledonian Isles ferry will return after 20 months of repairs

The west coast operator said Caledonian Isles would undergo checks and sea trials over the next three days after leaving dry dock in Leith on Wednesday following work costing at least £11.6 million.

The 32-year-old vessel, which is one of CalMac’s largest ferries, with space for 1,000 passengers and 110 cars, has undergone a series of major overhauls that have kept it out of service since January last year.

Arran islanders have been keenly awaiting its return to the Ardrossan-Brodick route, which has only been intermittently served by other ferries during its absence, forcing passengers to take longer crossings via Troon.

However, there have been a number of false starts when CalMac announced a return to service only for it to be shelved when further problems were found.

A CalMac spokesperson said: “The vessel will carry out trials over the next few days to determine whether repairs have been successful and she can transit back to the west coast ahead of a return to service.

“Crew familiarisation at Ardrossan and Brodick will be necessary should trials go to plan, and all being well we anticipate a potential return to service at some point next week.

“We will finalise plans as soon as we can, and work with the local ferry committee to keep people informed of plans. Caledonian Isles will return to the Ardrossan-Brodick route pending the successful outcome of trials.”

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The spokesperson said during previous sea trials in June, “an issue with instability in pitch response” affecting the ferry’s pitch propellers was discovered.

They said work to fix the problem had continued since late July. Alignment checks were due to be made on Wednesday followed by harbour trials on Thursday to check the pitch response, then sea trials in the Forth on Friday.