Ferry passengers face disruption and longer journeys during closure of Uig Harbour

By Ross Hempseed

January 6 2023, 4:54 pm

The Ferry Inn is in Uig in the north of Skye. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

CalMac has announced new arrangements for ferry services during the two-month closure of Uig Harbour.

From January 16, ferry services will no longer be able to dock at Uig, located on the Isle of Skye, which forms part of the Skye Triangle.

The route connects Skye with the towns of Lochmaddy and Tarbert in the Outer Hebrides and is a lifeline service for islanders to get to mainland Scotland.

Due to the closure, Skye Triangle services will stop completely until upgrade works are finished, with a target date of March 13.

Extra hours on journeys

Passengers will need to use alternative services such as Stornoway-Ullapool or Lochboisdale-Mallaig-Oban.

Currently, two services operate between Lochmaddy and Uig daily, taking one hour and 45 minutes.

The journey – operated by the MV Hebrides – can take four hours if passengers dock at both Lochmaddy and Tarbert.

The MV Hebrides which usually operates the Skye Triangle will be assigned to the Stornoway-Ullapool crossing. Image: Sandy McCook / DC Thomson.

MV Hebrides will instead operate a daily return service between Ullapool and Lochmaddy with a travel time of four hours and 30 minutes.

While this service allows passengers to access Lochmaddy, no services will run to Tarbert, leaving passengers with fewer travel options.

Tarbert travellers may be forced to drive an hour to Stornoway or travel three and a half hours to Lochboisdale, where ferries operate to Oban and Mallaig.

‘Best alternative options’

The ferry operator has confirmed shuttle buses will transport passengers from Tarbert to Stornoway and from Uig to Ullapool – a three-hour journey.

In addition, CalMac will charter the vessel, MV Arrow, to provide freight resilience between the Outer Hebrides via Stornoway and Ullapool.

Uig Harbour is due to undergo a major revamp to its infrastructure to accommodate the new vessels when they arrive.

Alongside permenant works, the contractor RJ McLeod will install a temporary linkspan which will allow the port to reopen for the busy summer timetable.

The eight-week shutdown beginning this month is one of two closures for the work with another six-week closure planned for October 30.

Councillor Ken Gowans said: “These works at Uig are essential to ensure the ferry services on the Skye Triangle route can continue to serve communities and visitors for many years to come.”

Robbie Drummond, chief executive of CalMac, said: “The closure of Uig harbour means that we have had to find the best alternative options for our customers, and we have tried to keep disruption to a minimum for them.

“We will be building on communications already in place to remind passengers about the closure and support them with the information they may need.”

To find out how this affects your journey, visit the CalMac website.