On 31 March 2026, MV Isle of Islay carried its first passengers, departing Port Askaig at 12:30 bound for Kennacraig. A long-awaited date for an island that has been running on a single-vessel service for the past sixteen months.
The Hebridean Isles, the second vessel on the Kennacraig–Islay route, was withdrawn in November 2024 after 39 years of service: the cost of repairs was no longer justifiable. From that point, the Finlaggan covered alone a route that needs two ships, carrying the full summer 2025 season and the following winter without any rotation. The situation had already been critical in summer 2023, when the Hebridean Isles was out of action for nine months with propeller pitch control issues. We know this first-hand: in October 2025, our return sailing was cancelled and the following days were already fully booked.
The new vessel
Isle of Islay was built at the Cemre shipyard in Turkey and formally handed over to CMAL on 15 January 2026, roughly a year behind original estimates. She measures 94.8 metres in length and can carry 450 passengers and 100 cars (or 14 HGVs). CalMac estimates a 40% increase in vehicle and freight capacity on the Kennacraig–Port Askaig/Port Ellen route compared to the single-vessel service.
The first sailing had been planned for 27 March, delayed by a few days due to technical issues identified during final trials. The sister ship, MV Loch Indaal, is expected to join the same route in summer 2026 — though given that Isle of Islay herself arrived about a year late from the same Turkish yard, a further delay on Loch Indaal is a reasonable expectation.
The crisis that continues
The Isle of Islay entering service is welcome news, but it comes at a moment when CalMac’s fleet is in deeper difficulty than at any recent point. Around 31 March, seven or eight vessels were simultaneously out of service: among them, the Glen Sannox (off since 26 March with an exhaust system fault), Isle of Arran, Lord of the Isles and Isle of Cumbrae, alongside vessels in planned maintenance.
Glen Sannox entered service in January 2025 after six and a half years of delay, the result of the collapse of Ferguson Marine and a series of poor decisions by CMAL. In its first year it has already required over a million pounds in repairs. The second Ferguson Marine vessel, Glen Rosa, is expected by end of 2026 but may slip into 2027.
The numbers are stark: technical fault cancellations rose from 709 in 2015 to 7,371 in 2025, a 940% increase. Total cancellations nearly doubled over the same period.
The Isle of Islay eases the pressure on Islay. The underlying structural problem of the CalMac fleet remains unsolved.
