Uist ferry sails in daylight only due to radar fault

A CalMac ferry serving the Western Isles has resumed daylight sailing despite a fault with its radar.

MV Lord of the Isles had been out of action since Thursday, initially due to a problem with corroded steelwork.

The ship was repaired, but then problems with its radar system meant Saturday sailings were also cancelled.

CalMac said there would be one sailing from Lochboisdale in South Uist to Mallaig, and one sailing from the mainland back to the island.

The state-owned ferry operator has apologised for the disruption. From Thursday to Saturday customers were redirected to the Lochmaddy-Uig route which was a lengthy diversion.

The CalMac fleet has become increasingly unreliable and maintenance budgets have soared due to the slow pace of vessel replacement.

The average age of a CalMac ship is 24 years, but many of the larger vessels are much older.

MV Lord of the Isles is 33 years old, and around half of the 10 largest ships are beyond their expected service life.

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The delays to the two new ships being built at Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow have contributed to the problem, but critics say a long term lack of investment is also to blame.

Calum Macaulay, the owner of the Lochboisdale Hotel, said the service to South Uist had become very unreliable.

He told the BBC: "You've got the option of going up to Lochmaddy and crossing across to Uig on Skye - but that give us a 130-mile detour and a far, far longer journey time to Lochboisdale.

"You could probably reckon 80 plus per cent of the people are heading for the central Scottish belt so that basically puts a day's travel now to go via Lochmaddy."

In May, the Lord of the Isles was out of action for two weeks because it needed essential repairs to its firefighting system.

Other vessels to have faced breakdowns this year include MV Hebrides, historically regarded as a reliable ship, but which has been out of service on a number of occasions.