CalMac passenger injury and delay fears after Mull ferry gangway scrapped

Islanders fear passengers face increased injury risk and further ferry delays on one of CalMac’s busiest routes after plans were abandoned to adapt a broken pedestrian boarding gangway to keep it in use.

Passengers will have to continue walking on and off ferries through the car deck at Craignure on the main route between Mull and the mainland until a replacement is devised.

Passengers have to walk on and off the Isle of Mull ferry via the car deck | Getty Images

The service to Oban - CalMac’s fourth busiest - carries more than 500,000 passengers a year.

The covered walkway, known as a “passenger access system”, has been out of action since April because of damage to a winch that moves it into position alongside ferries.

Scottish government-owned Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal), which owns the system, had been investigating whether it could be used in a fixed position when the tide was at the right height.

However, Cmal has found that would only be suitable for “a fraction of sailings”, so the system will be scrapped.

The passenger access system at Craignure beside Coruisk, a temporary secondary ferry on the route | Cmal

Cmal is now seeking an “interim solution” with CalMac and Argyll and Bute Council, which owns the Craignure ferry terminal, until a new pier is built.

The Mull and Iona Ferry Committee said it expected that to be similar to a traditional gangway hoisted by a ship.

It has questioned whether repairs to the access system would mean it would have to be brought up to current safety standards, which Cmal said was unfeasible.

READ MORE: Historic Waverley paddle steamer rescues stranded CalMac passengers after Isle of Mull ferry breaks down

Committee chair Joe Reade said: “It is highly likely the delays we are experiencing as a result of extended turnaround times will have to be integrated into our timetable (at least partially).

“This threatens essential public transport connections and key ferry timings. In the extreme, it may lead to a reduction in the number of sailings operated at peak times.

“Most ironically, a decision that Cmal says is driven by safety is actually going to result in increased risk to both passengers and staff.

“Already there has been one hospitalisation as a result of foot passengers having to transit via the steep internal stairs and the car deck.

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“If a traditional gangway eventually replaces the access system, it will be inherently less safe - it will be steeper, have steps or cleats, and will be open to the weather.

“For many passengers, particularly the elderly or those with mobility issues, it will be unusable. In some states of tide, it could be too steep for anyone.”

CalMac said turnaround times might take “slightly longer on busy sailings” but could be shorter on quieter ones.

It said passengers using the car deck - as they do on CalMac’s smaller ferries - “does not carry a higher accident risk”.

In a statement, Ramsay Muirhead, its director of port infrastructure and planning, and CalMac head of harbour operations Fraser Wallace, said that since using part of the access system would be unsuitable for most sailings, it is “no longer fit for use in any form” and will be dismantled.

They said: “This will allow a wide range of alternative passenger access options from the pier deck to be considered.

“We recognise the current arrangements continue to impact the local community, businesses and those travelling through Craignure, particularly during the busier summer period.”