CalMac ferry Glen Sannox's repairs extended to four months with parts stripped from sister vessel Glen Rosa
Arran vessel not now due back in service until March
CalMac’s newest ferry is to remain out of service for a fourth month for damaged equipment to be replaced by stripping parts from its still incomplete sister vessel, The Scotsman has learned.
The year-old Glen Sannox went in for its annual overhaul in November and should have returned to service on the Troon to Brodick in Arran route on February 2, but this has now been delayed until March 2.
Meantime, CalMac’s ageing Caledonian Isles ferry has also been delayed returning to service on the Ardrossan-Brodick route until Tuesday because of bad weather and extra repairs.
Glen Sannox entered service in January last year, six-and-a-half years late and four times over budget due to construction problems at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow.
However, just two months later a crack was found in its hull which was temporarily repaired, with a permanent fix made as part of its annual maintenance at the Cammell Laird yard on Merseyside at the end of the year.
CalMac said it now needed to replace parts in the starboard (right hand side) windlass/winch assembly, which would be taken from Glen Rosa.
The move comes a year after it emerged that 16 major parts had been taken from the vessel to complete Glen Sannox, including a starter motor and various pumps.
CalMac said other work carried out on the vessel had included cleaning contamination in the cooling systems for the engines and filling it with new, chemically-treated cooling water.
It said that had required dismantling the main and auxiliary engines to allow access to physically clean the cooling spaces inside them, which took more than a month.
Steelwork repairs were made where vibration caused a hairline crack on a weld in the hull.
CalMac said Glen Sannox would need to be refilled with liquefied natural gas before returning to service, which is expected to take about a week, with the system and storage tank taking several days to cool down first.
A CalMac spokesperson said: “The windlass assembly, which is used to deploy and recover the anchor, was fully overhauled in dock.
“In recent testing, a damaged bearing was identified, and further inspection revealed the need to replace multiple components on the assembly.”
CalMac said the parts would be taken from Glen Rosa, which is due to be completed by Ferguson Marine by the end of the year.
The spokesperson said: “To reduce the overall length of this delay in waiting on new components, Ferguson Marine has agreed to a request from CalMac to provide the components from Glen Rosa.”
Graeme Thomson, the yard’s chief executive, said: “We are working in partnership with CalMac and Cammell Laird to help them minimise the impact of further delays.
“To get Glen Sannox back into service sooner, we have offered to provide parts from Glen Rosa.
“This will speed up repairs and will have no impact on the cost and delivery timeline for Glen Rosa.”
CalMac said 32-year-old Caledonian Isles’ return had been put back further by bad weather delaying the final stages of its annual overhaul. Work on its gearbox also took longer than planned.
The overhaul started in Greenock on January 4 and the vessel was scheduled to return to service last Saturday but that was put back a week and then another three days to next Tuesday.
The Arran Ferry Committee, the official body representing passengers, said the disruption made travel an unacceptable lottery.
Secretary Bill Calderwood said: “We are disappointed that once again the return to service is announced in a piece-by-piece process which does not build confidence for those who are trying to plan travel.
“Quality control and project management does not appear to be improving for the vessels we have to rely on to conduct our lives.
“The return to Ardrossan of the Caledonian Isles is very welcome and we can only hope this uncertain period ends with the return of the Glen Sannox as predicted.
“We have requested details of the work carried out on the Glen Sannox during her extended absence and are disappointed that only now are we informed of some aspects of the work that could have been provided if the operators were serious about transparency.
“The community looks forward to a time when our service can once again be considered appropriate and capable of providing the needs of the community, but the update still leaves unanswered questions.
“Everything is last minute and makes any travel plans a lottery, which is unacceptable.”
Scottish Conservatives islands and connectivity spokesperson Jamie Halcro Johnston said: “This embarrassing delay is yet another kick in the teeth for hard-pressed islanders.
“They’ve waited years for this crucial new vessel, only to see it taken out of service for costly repairs and further strain put on an already unreliable service.”
His Scottish Liberal Democrats counterpart Jamie Greene said: “The SNP were given the task of building two new ferries, but they couldn’t do it without going over budget by hundreds of millions and taking years to finish them.
“Now, it seems the finished one goes out of service for months on end, while the other remains more than eight years delayed.“
Scottish Labour transport spokesperson Daniel Johnson said: “Ferry services have been thrown into turmoil by these repairs and this extension will be a blow to the communities that rely on these lifeline services.”
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