New ferry, MV Glen Sannox was removed from service over the weekend after a hairline crack was discovered on one of the welded seams on its hull near the waterline.
Ferry operator CalMac cancelled all of the sailings on the vessel on Friday afternoon with sailings eventually resuming by Sunday afternoon.
According to CalMac a dive team assessed the crack and repairs were carried out by a third-party contractor on Saturday. The repairs were then tested on Sunday with the service resuming with the 2.50pm sailing from Brodick.
To cope with the addition pressure faced on the service, MV Alfred’s passenger capacity was extended and an extra single sailing was scheduled from Brodick to Troon on both Friday and Saturday.
Extra staff were also dispatched to Lochranza and Claonaig to deal with the anticipated increase in traffic at the north end of the island.
CalMac said that it was aware of reports that the vessel had made contact with the harbour at Brodick. A spokesperson from CalMac confirmed: “These are unfounded and the vessel did not make contact with the harbour.”
Speaking after the vessel was returned to service, the CalMac spokesperson added: “We are grateful to the vessel’s crew, our local port staff and the dive and repair teams for their speedy response to this issue.”
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