Dear Mr Stevenson,

 Never has so much chaos been caused by the breakdown of one ferry

The MV Clansman broke down last Friday, there was a knock on effect on every ferry service sailing out of Oban because of the amount of work that vessel is being asked to do, the number of islands she has to serve and the complex timetable she operates.

Lord of the Isles, Isle of Arran, Isle of Mull and the Hebrides ferries were all called into the equation to try to ease the difficulties of delivering a service to Barra at the peak of the holiday weekend, when all sailings were extremely busy and fully booked.

We ask the Transport Minister to take note that this is caused by the lack of sufficient vessels to cover the routes, there are no spare boats. Please note that the Isle of Arran is not a relief boat when she is scheduled as the second vessel for Islay.

All routes out of Oban were affected last weekend when vessels were switched around in an effort to reinstate any service at all to Barra. We ask the Minister to note that the need for an additional vessel and it is needed to share the routes operated by the Clansman. A ferry for Barra and a ferry for Tiree and Coll would make sense and would mean that any disruptions to the service would be easier to deal with.