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Sailings to the Isle of Arran in the coming months

Posted by (Lake District, England) on

Peel Ports,. the owner of the port of Ardrossan, have now permanently closed the 'Irish Berth'.

This reduces the flexibility of the port in poor weather and is likely either to lead to more cancellations or diversions to Gourock. It also makes a two ship service from the port harder.

Also the Glen Sannox, the new route vessel, begins sea trials in the next week or two, and is now pencilled in for handover to CalMac in May. She does not fit Ardrossan Harbour as currently configured. So if she does come into service during the summer timetable, it will be from the port of Troon. If that happens foot passengers will be transferred by shuttle bus from Troon railway station.

So keep a close eye on CalMac for service news. Also those with cars might like to bear in mind the alternative route from Kintyre to Lochranza- unusually this route is in winter use due to a current lack of capacity from Ardrossan.

Freight sailings to Arran are already operating from Troon.

Posted by
1280 posts

You would think that eventually The Greatest Ferry Cock Up (To Date) Ever would get sorted, but no….

God knows what would happen to Ardrossan long term if the Arran ferries ran from somewhere else. It’s not the first time the new ferry doesn’t fit the quay. I remember years ago the then brand new ferry from Oban to Mull didn’t fit the (newly built) Mull quay. Solution? Send new ferry back to ship builders to slice a section out amidships so it did fit. The current Arran ferry situation suggests that nobody is learning from any previous mistakes, ever.

Posted by
148 posts

Thanks for the update, Stuart! I have booked a one-day Isle of Arran tour with Rabbie’s in mid-May. I presume the folks there are staying on top of things and planning for potential detours.

Posted by
5751 posts

Troon is now the bad weather port.

The first passenger sailings from Troon are this week. Foot passengers check in at Ardrossan and are bussed to Troon. All passengers must be pre booked during this diversionary period as there are no passenger facilities, except restrooms, at Troon.

In settled weather sailings remain from Ardrossan.

Posted by
5751 posts

Calmac have now got their revised Arran summer timetable out-
MV Alfred will operate from Troon on this timetable until 21 August- https://www.calmac.co.uk/summer-timetables/troon-brodick
(she can't take Coaches, motorhomes and caravans) Foot passengers can now access the port, and the old P and O terminal building is now re-opened. She has no retail/food facilities.
The shuttle bus continues to run from Ardrossan Port and Troon Railway station, and car parking at Troon port is free for the time being.
MV Isle of Arran will continue to run from Ardrossan on this timetable- https://www.calmac.co.uk/summer-timetables/ardrossan-brodick In heavy weather she will also divert to Troon. At Brodick she is reported to be using the East Berth, not the linkspan. Foot Passengers are reported to be boarding via the Car Deck as the air bridge only serves the linkspan west berth.

There are to be berthing trials at Brodick for the MV Hebrides. If successful she may be redeployed from the Uig triangle to boost capacity.

Posted by
5751 posts

All that can be said at the moment is this from CalMac-

Saturday 6th April- Due to the severe gale force weather being forecast as a result of Storm Kathleen, all sailings operated by MV
Isle of Arran have been cancelled. There will be a review at approx. 1400 on Saturday 6th April regarding sailings on Sunday 7th

Assuming you have a booking you will have preference if the service runs. If you do not have a booking displaced traffic from Saturday and the last (cancelled) sailing tonight will have priority for any available space.

Currently the service from Troon on the MV Albert seems to be more likely to run due to the harbour layout there and her design. If you are driving to port you may need to be ready to drive round to Claonaig on Kintyre for the service to Lochranza- which is still running tonight when the Ardrossan service is cancelled- due to better conditions on that side of the island. Just keep a close eye on CalMac updates, and your e-mails if you have a booking.

Posted by
7 posts

Thank you! I had started a separate topic because I realized after posting that I didn’t want to derail this particular general post with a specific question but I appreciate the advice so much!
Thank you!

Posted by
148 posts

This morning I received an email from Rabbie’s announcing day/date changes for the tour I had booked:

“There’s been a change to your “A Day on the Island: Arran, 1 day tour” departing from Glasgow. 

A schedule change with the ferry crossings means we’re no longer able to run this tour on a Friday. It will now run on a Wednesday instead*.

The new available dates for this tour are:

1st, 15th and 22nd May, and *Thursday 30th May.
12th, 19th and 26th June.
3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st July.

7th, 14th, 21st and 28th August.

11th, 18th, and 25th September.

2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd October.”

This throws a wrench into our plans, as Wednesday is our arrival day (landing at EDI around 10 a.m.) and we’ll be in Edinburgh the following Wednesday. We have a few options, the simplest of which (in that it doesn’t require changes to our flights or hotel reservations) is to take a different tour on the planned day and save the Isle of Arran for some future trip.

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