A new ferry which was delivered six years late and massively overbudget has been out of action for more than 100 days since entering service little over a year ago.
The MV Glen Sannox was formally handed over to operators CalMac last year to boost its ageing fleet and end misery for islanders by providing an improved and reliable service.
But the Mail can reveal that the vessel, which serves the island of Arran, did not sail on 102 of the 383 operating days available since arriving on the West Coast in January 2025.
It comes just days after it was revealed that the ship is likely to be out of service for a further three months at the end of the year as it needs new propellers and other work done at a cost of £3.2million.
Problems began just weeks after its first sailing when a one-inch crack in the vessel’s hull thought to be caused by vibrations from its propellors was discovered.
The ferry’s annual 52-day overhaul at the end of last year had to be extended by a further 33 days, making up the bulk of the days it was out of service.
But during its first year, the UK’s first dual fuel vessel was out of action due to its ‘pre-planned maintenance’, a technical fault and the closure of the linkspan at Troon harbour, which allows vehicles, passengers and cargo to be offloaded safely, for ‘essential maintenance’.
The MV Glen Sannox has been out of action for more than 100 days since it finally entered service
Weather cancellations have also played a part.
But given the cost of building the Glen Sannox and its sister ship MV Glen Rosa spiralled to around 400million – four times over budget, Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Sue Webber said the amount of time out of service was ‘outrageous and scarcely believable’.
She added: ‘Having already waited over seven years for the Glen Sannox to set sail, islanders astonishingly still cannot rely on this lifeline ferry when they need it.
‘They are sick and tired of the SNP’s ferries fiasco and just want reliable ferries that can get them to work and hospital appointments.’
Businesses on the island said there had been a noticeable drop in footfall, with some estimating ferry cancelations and delays have cost them around a third of their usual custom.
One business owner, who did not want to be named, said one of the main issues now was a lack of public confidence.
He said: ‘A lot of our business is people coming over for the day or a week-end getaway but with the cancellations of the ferries people don’t have confidence to come any more. If they get stuck here it’s going to cost them a lot of money on accommodation…it’s certainly affected us.
‘We had high hopes that with the Glen Sannox added to the fleet it would be great, but it’s had all these problems. I just hope they can sort it out. Island visitors are down a lot. It’s still early in the season but I’d say we’re probably down about 30 to 35 per cent. It’s just dead quiet.’
Another echoed this view, saying: ‘We have definitely noticed less footfall coming into the shop. A lot of people also liked the Ardrossan connection because it’s got better train connections so that has also had a negative impact.’
The Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, which is not due to enter service until at least the end of this year, were both built to take over the busiest route on the West Coast from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, to Brodick on Arran.
But the ships are too big to berth safely in the mainland port and instead will sail between the island and Troon until the long-awaited redevelopment of Ardrossan Harbour is completed.
Scottish Labour Transport spokesman Daniel Johnson said it ‘beggars belief that a ferry that was years late and nearly five times over-budget has been unavailable more than a quarter of the time since it came into use’.
He added: ‘While the Glen Sannox sits in the dockyard for months on end getting repairs, islanders are dealing with ferry chaos and taxpayers are footing the bill.’
Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘I struggle to think what more can go wrong with the Glen Sannox…..Ask the SNP for a ferry and they’ll give you a shambles.’
The Scottish Government said from a ‘health, safety and reliability basis it is essential that maintenance and repairs are carried out when needed’.
A spokesman added: ‘The arrival of 13 new vessels to the CalMac fleet…will improve the reliability of ferry services and these modern vessels should also be able to operate in more challenging weather and sea conditions.’
CalMac said ‘more than 94 per cent of sailings scheduled on the Ardrossan-Brodick route operated successfully between January 2025 and January 2026’.
The Glen Sannox was launched with painted windows in 2017 by the then Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, but did not enter service for years
A spokesman added: ‘MV Glen Sannox operated for 74 per cent of this time and planned work accounted for more than half of time spent off service, including an extended period in annual overhaul, and several periods where Ferguson’s has carried out warranty work.
‘Most unplanned cancellations on this route during this period were due to poor weather – 84 weather-related cancellations compared to 14 for technical reasons.’
Highland Council also confirmed last week that its ship MV Corran had developed a fault – less than 24 hours after returning to service.
The ferry, which runs on Loch Linnhe, between Corran to Ardgour, Lochaber, resumed sailing on Wednesday after an extensive refit, but had to be withdrawn the next day after developing a ‘technical issue’.
Engineers are due to carry out repairs this week, with the relief vessel, MV Maid of Glencoul, covering the route until further notice.
