Extra ferry sailing to Islay

Earlier I wrote about the Calmac Ferry MV Hebridean Isles sailing off to Orkney, and was replaced by the Isle of Arran Ferry, which meant less capacity on the Kennacraig to Port Ellen route. Calmac was accused of operating a "third world" ferry service and providing not enough transport capacity for the distilleries to bring their cargo to the mainland.

According to thisisnorthscotland.co.uk Calmac will provide an extra sailing by the Hebdridean Isles Ferry on Monday night bringing some relief to the island's transport capacity problems. The extra sailing will leave Kennacraig at 6pm Mondays and will return from Port ellen at 4.15am on Tuesday mornings. This extra sailing will operate untill the end of March, when the summer timetable comes in operation.

Quote:
Highlands and Islands MSP Jim Mather welcomed the improvement and said: "I commend CalMac for responding positively to local demands. I know that there have been serious concerns about the available capacity on the Islay route. "Whisky production is expected to be high this year on Islay and on Jura and there are other activities that will create demand for freight capacity on the Kennacraig route."