Excerpts from issue 54/03 14 November 2026
Better late than never
The second of the two ferries built at the Cemre shipyard in Turkiye, the MV Loch Indaal, has suffered a minor delay in its MCA certification.
This was outlined in a recent letter to the Convener of the Parliamentary Transport Committe from CMAL CEO, Kevin Hobbs.
Expected to have been handed over to CalMac in the final week of October, but the shipyard, through no fault of its own, "experienced challenges securing the availability of specialist engineers from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)", which extended delivery beyond the end of October.
However, a CMAL spokesman said that good progress continued to be made addressing the MCA's minor concerns. The MCA inspectors were scheduled to return to the shipyard at the beginning of this week, when it was anticipated they'd receive final 'Flag State' approval. This will subsequently be followed by a seven to ten day period to prepare the vessel for its voyage to Scotland.
As previously reported in the Ileach, following pressure from the Islay Community Council Ferry Committee, CalMac acceded to demands to maintain a two ferry winter timetable service on the Islay/Jura route with the MV Isle of Islay and MV Finlaggan.
And due to the MV Loch Seaforth over-running her drydock period by two weeks, CalMac announced on Tuesday, that they were shuffling vessels to cover.
MV Isle of Islay will move to Ullapool-Stornoway to cover the Western-Isles freight service, operating alongside MV Isle of Lewis which will provide the day service.
And MV Isle of Arran will join the Islay/Jura service ensuring a two-vessel service with capacity to meet the islands' needs, remains in place.
The MV Finlaggan will remain on the Islay/Jura route until the commencement of next year's summer timetable, at which point it is expected the service will be operated by both the new vessels.
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Jura's ferry woes continue
November's issue of Jura Jottings has highlighted the continuing dissatisfaction of a majority of Jura residents with the council's decision to remove the 21:30 ferry sailing to and from Feolin.
The article underlined the importance of the evening sailing for connections with CalMac ferries and flights, particularly in relation to medical appointments.
Several residents described being stranded on Islay or the mainland, incurring substantial, additional accommodation costs. The report continued to note that the value of the evening sailing was also equally important for access to Islay itself. Residents described children missing school events and extracurricular activities, alongside restrictions on employment, volunteering, meetings and social activities. According to Jura Jottings, "This is particularly important since many of the services and opportunities based on Islay are funded to serve both islands, but without evening connectivity they become harder to access for some Jura residents."
In a related report by the BBC, an Argyll & Bute Council spokesperson was quoted as saying, "The current arrangements are not our preferred long-term solution, and we have an action plan to improve communication and consider sustainable options for the service.
"We are continuing discussions with Jura Community Council on progress against the action plan, future timetable and crewing options, and the proposal for a ferry forum."
But The Jottings report also highlighted that, apart from the withdrawal of the evening sailing, residents had also voiced concerns about the management and day-to-day operation of the ferry. These included inconsistent arrangements for double runs, the treatment of commercial vehicles, and poor communication over disruptions. Some residents have apparently also expressed a reluctance to raise complaints or provide their contact details because they feared repercussions.
In a survey by Jura Community Council, 68% of residents said they would be open to another provider taking over the ferry service.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson told the BBC, "The Scottish Government must respect the autonomy of local authorities to develop their own standards and accountability to local electorates for the delivery of ferry services for which they are responsible."
The Ileach would like to express its grateful thanks to Jura Jottings for reporting.
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In this week's issue:
RNLI book fair, Land Reform issues, Delay for MV Loch Indaal, Jura's ferry woes, MachairWind cable corridor, 20 years of tableting, Final year of Ardbeg All islay Fund, Slimming World, Hallowe'en guisers, Postal disruptions, Shoe-box Appeal, Walk on the wild side, Charlène's Festive book selection, Cancer Support Group, Deposit Return Scheme (again), Gill Johnstone remembered, Rev. Archibald Lamont.
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Postal disruptions
There can be few residents of Islay and Jura who have not suffered at the hands of the current local postal delivery crisis, which seems to have persisted well beyond the promised improvement highlighted in a previous Ileach report.
Medical appointments, communications from HMRC and greetings cards, to name but a few, have all been recorded as arriving too late on many occasions.
The Ileach understands that the root of the problem is a shortage of staff based at Port Ellen's sorting office. And not that it will come as any comfort to those of us on the islands, a recent report on the BBC website highlighted a similar problem in Highland region. According to the BBC, Royal Mail said it knew how important its deliveries were to people and businesses and took any concerns about delays seriously.
Royal Mail has also said, in relation to the problems experienced on Islay and Jura, that staff shortages are the result of recruitment issues. Anecdotal reports have attributed these to the company's apparent reluctance to offer suitable remuneration for the positions on offer.
Royal Mail recently sent postal workers from the mainland to help alleviate the situation, but also apportioned blame to ferry and aircraft routes often being interrupted, though realistically, that is unlikely to have created the current situation alone.
Currently there seems to be no simple soluition to this ongoing problem.
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