Oban - Craignure

The Oban - Craignure route is one of the busiest in the CalMac network today. Its current route’s origins date back to 1964 when the new Columba was introduced on the Sound Mull route, from Oban to Craignure and Lochaline. The pier at Craignure was newly constructed for this ferry, sticking out into the bay at right angles to the shoreline. This replaced the old stone pier dating back to 1894. At Oban, the Columba loaded her cars by means of a hoist, directly from the quayside, usually from the North Pier. Drive through operation was introduced in 1973 when a new linkspan was installed at the Railway Pier in Oban. This facility enabled not only the Mull timetable to be sped up, but also that of the long haul service out to Lochboisdale on South Uist. From 1973 to 1974, Mull was serviced by three different ships: Iona, Glen sannox and, when Craignure duly received its linkspan and the route became truly drive-through, the newly converted Clansman. Events conspired to take this ferry away from Mull and in 1976 she switched places with the Arran ferry Caledonia.

For the next 12 years, Mull was served in summer by the Caledonia and in winter (usually from late September through to mid May) by the old favourite Glen sannox. The people of Mull actually preferred the Sannox and would rather have had her as the year-round vessel, despite the fact she had no bow visor and could only load with her stern ramp at either port. This was not an option though as the versatile Glen Sannox was required elsewhere as a relief ship during the summer months and did indeed visit Islay, Arran and other Clyde ports on a regular basis in the summer. This arrangement continued until the summer traffic built up to such levels that the Caledonia simply could not transport the numbers of passengers that required shipment. 1987 was her final year on the Craignure route as her replacement was due in service the following spring. When the Glen Sannox took over in autumn 1987, the redundant vessel was placed on the sale list and headed for dock.

The new ferry duly entered service in 1988 just in time for the summer season. The Isle of Mull was something of a giant; with double the car capacity of her predecessor and a passenger certificate for up to 1000 with a crew of 28. At a stroke the capacity problems associated with her predecessor were a thing of the past, and at the time of writing (December 2024) the Isle of Mull is still the regular Mull ferry after over three decades, providing up to six return sailings a day in the summer months.

When the Isle of Mull first entered service she was also expected to serve Colonsay as well as Mull. This practise continued until 2002 and she would sail twice a week in summer, on Monday and Friday evenings, to Colonsay while in winter she would also fit in a third sailing on Wednesdays.

2002 saw a major shake-up of services operated from Oban. Under a new experiment, one made possible with the new Hebrides sending the Hebridean Isles down to Islay, the Isle of Arran was dispatched to Oban to provide additional services to Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, Barra and South Uist. This enabled the Isle of Mull to concentrate solely on serving Craignure and several additional sailings were offered each week at the times she would have previously sailed for Colonsay. This practise continued the following year although the additional vessel was Lord of the Isles, as Isle of Arran was by this time second vessel at Islay. Indeed the timetables were changed slightly and Lord of the Isles provided three sailings to Mull herself, in addition to those provided by the regular vessel. One of these sailings formed part of a cruise via the Sound of Kerrera past Gylen Castle and across to Craignure, making a close pass underneath Duart Castle. Although it did not appear in the main timetables, the 1500 ex Oban did indeed convey cars to Mull and brought traffic back at 1600. This cruise was pulled from the timetables after 2006.

With more vessels being based in Oban it was perhaps inevitable that there would be some switching of vessels, according to demand. Indeed usually three or four times a year the Isle of Mull would be allowed to 'stretch her legs' and continue out beyond Craignure to such exotic locations as Tiree and even Barra. On such occasions the Clansman or Lord of the Isles would step in and keep the link to Mull open, but in general though when one is waiting at Craignure, 99% of the time it would be the Isle of Mull that appeared from behind the headland and the site of the former steam railway terminus.

There have been those who have felt the need to voice concerns on the Isle of Mull's abilities to cope with the traffic requiring shipment. Her official crossing time was increased to 46 minutes, though in practise she was still able to be berthing in just over 40 minutes.

Her timetable was also tweaked to eliminate late running during the high summer periods in 2007. Gone was the easily remembered two-hourly timetable. The 2006 summer saw her running about 20 minutes late by the time it came to loading for the 1600 ex Oban and this was causing problems for those passengers returning from Mull to get the connecting train to Glasgow. For 2007 the morning sailings were therefore moved forward by 5 or 10 minutes to give extra loading time. This did not, however, address the question of the Isle of Mull's capacity and there was speculation for several years in the late 2000s that Mull may receive a solution similar to that granted to Arran - a second vessel at peak times. This eventually became a reality in 2016 when a series of vessel redeployments came about. The relatively new Lochinvar was displaced from the Tarbert – Portavadie service (her place being re-taken by the veteran Isle of Cumbrae) and sent north to Mallaig, freeing up the Coruisk to move down to Mull and a newly daily routine consisting of 5 return sailings from Craignure to Oban.

The new partnership of Isle of Mull and Coruisk provided ten sailings a day from each port. Isle of Mull operated 5 return trips from Oban and Coruisk operated 5 return trips from Craignure. The sailing times were advertised as 50 minutes for Isle of Mull and 55 minutes for Coruisk, however in practise the ‘Mull’ usually managed 45 minutes and Coruisk not much more. The Coruisk’s move to Mull was something of a controversial move at the time, not least on the Isle of Skye. For the first couple of years there was no end of criticism levelled at the company for taking away what Skye residents regarded as ‘their’ ship. Likewise the Mull folk quickly took to Coruisk and the improved timetable she could offer – it was now possible for islanders to commute to jobs in Oban daily; the first sailing from Craignure arriving in time for a 0900 start. The last sailing back to Mull wasn’t until 2005. Furious demands from Skye to return Coruisk from Mull were denounced with equal ferocity from Mull – a very real rivalry now existed between the two islands.

During the winter months under the new regime, Mull reverted to a single vessel service albeit on a greatly improved timetable. Gone were the days of one morning and one afternoon sailing a day. The minimum offering was 3 sailings on a Sunday and anything between 4 and 6 return sailing on different days midweek.

Coruisk returned to Oban each season in time for the start of the summer timetable, however her return to Skye was on the cards following the announcement from CMAL that a second-hand ferry had been purchased from Norway in 2021. Following a winter in Leith drydock the newly renamed Loch Frisa appeared on the scene in the spring of 2022. Following trials and a staggered running-in period she replaced the Coruisk as the second Mull ferry.

The new Loch Frisa settled in very well and proved herself to be very reliable. The big test was her first winter and to the surprise of many locals and islanders alike, she suffered very few disruptions and was often seen sailing in conditions that saw the Isle of Mull or Isle of Arran remaining alongside. The new ferry's only real downside was her capacity - just 34 cars and 195 passengers however this was more than offset by her being double crewed, thus allowing a far longer operating day. During periods where she operated the Mull route by herself she would routinely be seen sailing from 0500 to 2300.

The winter of 2023/2024 saw a mixture of single vessel and double vessel service periods, while vessel shortages caused by the withdrawal of Hebridean Isles and the absence of Caledonian Isles in late 2024 meant that the entire winter timetable for 2024/2025 was to be covered by Loch Frisa alone.

Looking ahead and it was announced in late 2024 that Isle of Mull was one of two ships identified for disposal by the end of 2026. It is widely anticipated that Caledonian Isles, released by the arrival of Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa at Arran, is to be moved to Oban and placed on the main Mull roster, partnered by Loch Frisa.

Text thanks to John MacLeod and updated by Ships of CalMac