MV Isle of Arran

The "Auld Trooper" as commonly nicknamed.
History
United Kingdom
Name	MV Isle of Arran
Owner	Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited
Operator	Caledonian MacBrayne
Port of registry	Glasgow, United Kingdom
Route	Ardrossan - Brodick (summer) Ardrossan - Campbeltown (summer) Relief vessel (winter)
Builder	Ferguson Ailsa Ltd, Port Glasgow
Yard number	491
Launched	2 December 1983 by Miss Joanna Younger, daughter of the then Secretary of State
Maiden voyage	13 April 1984
Identification	IMO number: 8219554 Callsign: GDMJ MMSI Number: 235104000
Status	in service
General characteristics
Class and type	vehicle and passenger ferry
Tonnage	3,296 gt
Length	84.92 m (278 ft 7 in)
Beam	16.24 m (53 ft 3 in)
Draft	3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 x 8MB275 diesel engines, each developing 2,310 bhp (1,720 kW)
Speed	15 kn (28 km/h) (service)
Capacity	448 passengers 76 cars
Crew	20
Notes	>

MV Isle of Arran (Template:Lang-gd) is a drive-through ferry owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited and operated on the west coast of Scotland by Caledonian MacBrayne. Built in 1983, she served on the Arran service for ten years before being moved to Kennacraig. She returned to her original route in 2012, supplementing MV Caledonian Isles in summer and becoming a relief vessel in winter. In 2013, she started a new pilot route from Ardrossan to Campbeltown, which became a permanent fixture in 2015. She is still going strong in 2021, where she will see her 38th year since launching on 2nd December 1983.

The bridge of the ferry.

History

Isle of Arran was launched on the Clyde at the end of 1983. After fitting out, she made her way down to Gourock, where she showed the flag and tested her bow ramp on the linkspan. After further berthing trials at Ardrossan and Brodick, she eventually took over the route from the elderly MV Glen Sannox (which itself had recently replaced the failed MV Clansman) on 13 April 1984, providing a crossing time of 55 minutes. Her winter relieving vessels included MV Iona and Glen Sannox.

However, by the turn of the decade, it was clear that Isle of Arran was becoming inadequate for the role for which she was built. In 1993, less than ten years after her launch, she was replaced by the larger MV Caledonian Isles and left to take up the Kennacraig to Islay crossings. Replacing Claymore, she brought drive-through capabilities to the route. Despite having a much larger vehicle capacity, she could discharge a full load and take on another in the same, if not less, time than Claymore. Throughout the summer she made two or three return trips each day to Islay. On Wednesdays during high summer, her roster took her past Port Askaig to Colonsay and Oban, returning to Kennacraig after dark. The winter months saw Claymore or Iona relieving at Islay while Isle of Arran covered for the other large vessels at Oban, Ardrossan, Ullapool and Uig. She saw service on the majority of the drive-through routes on the west coast while continuing to have her own commitment to Islay during the summer. From the end of 1998, MV Clansman took the Arran and Lewis relief sailings and Isle of Arran relieved where needed.

Upon the introduction of MV Hebrides to the "Uig triangle" in March 2001, MV Hebridean Isles moved south to become the regular Islay vessel, and Isle of Arran became the spare vessel. An army charter took her from Ardrossan to Campbeltown in the autumn of 2001.

In 2002, she took up an experimental summer arrangement as a third large ship based in Oban, along with MV Isle of Mull and MV Clansman. In this role, Isle of Arran was able to improve several routes, carrying out additional sailings on a new roster incorporating runs to Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, Barra, South Uist and Mull. A new weekly sailing on a Thursday took her to Tiree before sailing through the Gunna Sound and across the Minch to Castlebay for mid-afternoon before retracing her steps to arrive back in Oban late in the evening. MV Lord of the Isles took over this roster in 2003 following the introduction of MV Coruisk at Mallaig.

In 2003, Isle of Arran returned to Islay to partner Hebridean Isles on a two-ship roster during the summer season. This arrangement doubled capacity on the route, and Islay could still be served on Wednesdays while Hebridean Isles sailed to Colonsay and Oban. These additional sailings were marked as such in the timetable, and could be cancelled at short notice as Isle of Arran was still the relief vessel. Prior to the 2004 season, she spent time in the James Watt Dock undergoing major work to replace her car deck. At the end of that season, she ventured north to Stornoway to relieve the freight vessel MV Muirneag.

Throughout 2005, Isle of Arran covered for Clansman, Lord of the Isles and Isle of Mull at Oban. Berthing trials at the new linkspan at Dunoon also allowed her to relieve there. The middle of the summer saw Isle of Arran handling all Islay traffic for a few days when Hebridean Isles covered the Tiree and Outer Isles rosters in place of the broken down Clansman. As the season ended, Isle of Arran returned to Islay to cover for the Hebridean Isles' refit.

In February 2010, Isle of Arran struck the linkspan at Kennacraig while travelling at a speed of over 8 knots (15 km/h). No passengers or crew were harmed, but there was damage to the vessel and the linkspan. MV Finlaggan replaced her on the Islay service in 2011 and Isle of Arran again became a spare vessel. When not in service Isle of Arran is laid up at either Campbeltown or Rosneath.

Isle of Arran saw service on her original route in February 2012 whilst MV Caledonian Isles was away for inspection after striking the pier at Ardrossan. In July and August 2012, she operated the additional services alongside Caledonian Isles, a role filled by MV Saturn until the previous summer. During September 2012, she provided temporary cover on the Rothesay - Wemyss Bay service whilst MV Bute underwent engine repairs. This was her first time on the route and a temporary timetable had to be introduced as she could not keep the normal one. After the September holiday weekend, she remained at Rosneath for the winter, returning to Ardrossan in May 2013 to resume the additional summer service to Arran and piloting a new summer route to Campbeltown. In December 2015, it was announced that this route would become a permanent fixture in the timetable.

In February 2014, Isle of Arran once again relieved at Ardrossan after Caledonian Isles broke down. She later relieved at Stornoway after MV Isle of Lewis broke down.

In April 2015, she suffered problems with her engine shaft just before she was due to start her summer sailings to Brodick and Campbeltown, resulting in Caledonian Isles taking all of her traffic and offering extra sailings. Isle of Arran was repaired by the beginning of May and returned to service.

In August 2015, it was announced that Isle of Arran would be replaced in 2018 by MV Glen Sannox, a new ferry built at Ferguson Marine Engineering at Port Glasgow on the Clyde. Glen Sannox is one of two identical sister ships, with Hull 802 expected to serve the Uig-Lochmaddy-Tarbert route. MV Glen Sannox is now expected to be delivered in the last quarter of 2021, at which point Isle of Arran may become the second vessel on the Oban-Craignure crossing, partnering Isle of Mull.

Isle of Arran relieved on the Uig Triangle, alongside MV Hebridean Isles, in January and February 2016 while Hebrides was away covering for other vessels. After covering at Islay, she provided extra Easter sailings to Arran, but after she resumed her regular summer timetable, she developed a propeller fault, leaving her out of service for nearly two weeks. From 3 to 21 January 2017, Isle of Arran relieved on the Ardrossan-Brodick route alongside Hebridean Isles while Caledonian Isles was away for her annual overhaul.

For two weeks in June 2017, Isle of Arran was out of service for emergency bow thruster repairs, resulting in MV Loch Bhrusda providing additional sailings from Claonaig to Lochranza alongside MV Catriona. After returning to Arran, she became the first ferry to dock at the new linkspan in Brodick, carrying out berthing trials on 21 and 26 June.

Clyde built heritage. Isle of Arran backing into James Watt Dock with a titan crane to the right.

In Winter 2017/18, Isle of Arran was the main winter relief vessel. In November 2017, Isle of Arran assisted Hebrides by taking some Lochboisdale-Uig sailings while the Lochmaddy linkspan was being repaired. During February and March 2018, she suffered issues with her propeller shafts while covering for Hebridean Isles on the Islay run and was out of service for approximately two weeks. In April and May 2018, Isle of Arran delivered a shared timetable to Arran and Islay while Clansman was at Garvel Dry Dock at Greenock for repairs to her propeller and prop shaft.

In August 2018, Isle of Arran suffered further issues with her propeller shaft and was out of service for approximately two weeks while repairs were carried out at Garvel Dry Dock. After returning to service, she broke down a week later and was out of service for the rest of the summer season. Hebridean Isles assisted Caledonian Isles on the route for the last week of the additional Arran and Campbeltown sailings.

While in her overhaul period in October 2019 she had major work done on her bow thruster engine, with this and further upgrades/repairs in previous few years "Isle of Arran" had been operating more reliably once again.

In March 2020 at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic "Isle of Arran" had been doing usual relief duties on the Lochboisdale run with "Lord of the Isles" covering elsewhere, however once "Clansman" returned the Arran made way for Troon where she was laid up until June 2020 where she took up second vessel on the popular Ardrossan - Brodick route, this time being limited to only 79 passengers instead of her 448 capacity due to social distancing. In 2020 the Ardrossan - Campbeltown seasonal route was suspended meaning "Isle of Arran" spent all week going between Ardrossan and Brodick. Other changes with the pandemic saw the cafeteria and coffee and retail shop closed, with part of the cafeteria closed off for crew mess. The rest of the year seen no change in her usual schedule, with her annual survey done from late September till mid October then relieving other CalMac vessels for their own annual survey.

In 2021 "Isle of Arran" had to take time out of relief duties and go to Troon in February for repairs, she returned to service a few days later and repositioned to Oban for the Craignure run but a few weeks later again took a few days out of service in Stornoway to carry out repairs to a cooling system fault which affected her starboard engine at sea, forcing her to divert north to Skye to land passengers while on a Lochboisdale crossing. On 17th April after covering for "Caledonian Isles" she visited Gourock to test the new Linkspan, she then made way for Stornoway to pick up the freight run as "Loch Seaforth" was suffering from major engine failure but the "Arran" only lasted a few weeks before swapping over with "Hebridean Isles" on the Islay run due to stabiliser issues meaning she had to head for more sheltered waters. During this the start of "Isle of Arran's" season on the secondary Arran roster and Campbeltown run was delayed but eventually made her return in early June where she undertook the first Ardrossan to Campbeltown sailing since 2019 due to the pandemic. In August 2021 the Scottish Government moved beyond level 0 restrictions, which meant the 79 passenger capacity onboard was lifted. During 2021 a survey was conducted on her superstructure areas, which revealed that much of the original steel was still the same thickness when she was first built, a remarkable thought considering she is approaching her 38th year in service.

Isle of Arran at Gourock with Ali Cat at the wires.

Layout

Of drive-through design, Isle of Arran has an open plan car deck with space for 76 cars in five lanes. She is fitted with a bow visor and bow and stern ramps. The open stern allows her to carry tankers and other large vehicles at the same time as passengers. There is insufficient height for lorries and coaches down either side of the car deck due to a gallery deck. From the car deck one must go outside to access the passenger accommodation. On Deck 3 there is a sheltered seating area, access to car deck and passenger lounges and a luggage area. There was originally a TV lounge with a children's room that was added in 1998, but these were taken away in 2009 to boost crew accommodation.

Deck 3. Starboard side sheltered area, the door on the left giving access to the car deck.

On Deck 4 is the main passenger lounge. At the aft end of the deck is a crew area and the galley. Forward is the cafeteria. The main entrance has an information desk, luggage racks and a gaming area where the shop used to be. At the bow of the ship there is the Coffee Cabin and shop with a lounge. On the port side is another lounge which is the area designated for dogs. On Deck 4 passengers can walk around the ship. The funnels are located mid deck around the cafeteria area, while the deck also includes three lifeboats and one FRC (Fast Rescue Craft). On Deck 5 passengers can access the popular open foredeck, accessible under the bridge wings. Above the cafeteria is an open deck with red plastic seating. This deck also has more areas for crew members.

On deck 6 is the bridge and the outdoor bridge wings, a feature which is now only present on two CalMac vessels, the other being MV Hebridean Isles.

A view aft from the exposed bridge wing.

Service

1984 - 1993	Ardrossan - Brodick
1993 - 1998	Kennacraig - Islay (summer) and winter relief
1998 - 2001	Kennacraig - Islay
2002	Oban 3rd vessel
2003 - 2007	general relief and Islay 2nd summer vessel
2007 - 2011	Kennacraig - Islay
winter 2011 - summer 2013	spare (winter) and Arran 2nd summer vessel
since summer 2013	spare (winter), Ardrossan - Campbeltown (summer) and Arran 2nd summer vessel

See also

• Caledonian MacBrayne fleet

External links

• MV Isle of Arran on www.calmac.co.uk