Corran Ferry Update - Now Even The Relief Ferry Has Broken Down

8th April 2023

Ferries in Scotland are a sore point. As many are ageing and with few options if they break down. Expensive to run and operate the charging structures go nowhere near saving up for replacement new ones.

Unfortunately, due to vessel breakdown issues there will be no Corran Ferry service over the coming days.

Corran Ferry's relief vessel, the Maid of Glencoul, broke down first thing yesterday (7 April 2023) morning.

An investigation was immediately launched and the issue was found to be a fault with the drive train. Unfortunately, it is highly likely there will be no service for several weeks. At present the Maid of Glencoul is to be towed to a dry dock for repairs.

That being the case the main ferry, which is also undergoing repair (The MV Corran) may be back in operation first.

The public is advised that the A861 around the loch and Fort William area will become busier than normal with traffic no longer able to use the ferry and we ask for the public's understanding during this challenging time.

If there are any temporary arrangements possible, such as a passenger service or bus this will be pursued as soon as possible and information will be circulated via the Corran Ferry's social media pages and website.

However, due to staff availability during the Easter weekend and the ferry team organising repairs this may be delayed until after Easter. We apologise for the inconvenience this will unfortunately cause for locals, businesses, and visitors alike, but this situation is out with our control at present.

Chair of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Staff are working over the Easter holidays to find ways to mitigate the immediate outage, but I can provide assurance that the Council is currently exploring a range of measures to that will provide a long term sustainable solution as matter of urgency."

We have been in discussion with Calmac who offered us additional engineering support and they are also helping where they can with spare parts but even with that repairs are likely to take some time to complete.

We are working closely with our multi-agency partners at Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Ambulance Service to manage the situation as best we can.

We will issue updates as soon as we have them.

The alternative is the road that takes a long time on single track road. with traffic in both directions delays are likely to be long with an extra 25 miles of driving whereas the ferry took a few minutes. Advisable not to run out of fuel on this route as you will be a long way from assistance.

The driving distance between Fort William to Ardnamurchan is 65 miles. It takes approximately 1h 35m to drive from Fort William to Ardnamurchan on quiet day but expect it to be longer due to no ferry to take some traffic.